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Thank you to everyone that participated in National Library Week. Check out our full set of photos from Library Snapshot Day, April 12th, as well as comments from our survey, "Why is the library important to you?"

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 Poetry Contest.  This year's theme was animals,inspiring over 200 poems. Winners and honorable meniton recipients are invited to Poetry Night on Tuesday, April 25 to read their poems and receive prizes and certificates. Thank you to our judges: Peggy Kane, President, Friends of the Library, Kate Burnham, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, and Barbara Raab, Children's Librarian.

Poetry Winners

Kindergarten – Grade 1 Category

Penguins

By Kellen Warren

Penguins live in igloos that are cold,

In the Arctic they eat fish we are told.

The dads stay with their eggs,

Holding them with their feet and legs.

Grade 2 -3 Category

Owls 

By Ryan Garrant

The owl lays silently in a tree.

Silently, the mouse creeps slowly on the woodland floor.

On silent wings, the owl flies towards thy mouse, flap, flap, flap... but never heard.

Suddenly the mouse breaks the stillness of the night.

Eeeek!  sadly, it is too late.

The owl then flies silently into the night.

Grade 4-5 Category

The Poem of the Bad Dog

By Gianna Misiraca

Don’t want to fetch sticks,

Don’t want to sit for my owner,

I steal food from the fridge

And take the printer toner.

I’m the worst dog of all,

I don’t follow rules,

I won’t do tricks,

Those are for fools.

I’m a realy picky dog,

I’ll only eat treats,

But I am so loveable

I can’t be beat!

Middle School Category

Turtle

By Kathryn Rohleder

Small and shiny

Swimming in circles

Never finding the end

of the imaginary maze

The tiny turtle tired out

Quickly

BLUB!

The tiny turtle

submerges in the

clay colored water

POOF!

The tiny turtle was gone like

a mysterious phantom

in the shadows of the night

High School Category

Paradox with Legs

By Amy Lynn Warner

You frighten me, so.

I scream, I screech, I squeal

and yet you move not.

You're in the corner waiting to make your move,

I'm running out the door calling for help.

You fearless creature, you.

You wretched beast.

If you were another, I would not mind.

I rather anything but you.

You and your eight limbs to torture society.

I only have passion and hopes for life, and

yet you make me go against all I stand for.

My morals twist, my body horrid,

all because of a stupid little spider.

Adult Category

The Zookeeper’s Symphony

By Christine Blaisdell

On a Saturday night, when the zookeeper’s keys

Have locked the front gates with a click and a squeeze,

The hippos let go a most watery moan

And the toucans catch hold of the rich overtone.

The primates percuss, snapping fingers and toes,

While the elephant inhales and lifts its great nose.

In the dim light of a thin crescent moon,

A trill, a crescendo, a riotous tune

The peacocks conduct with an arrogant flare,

Coaxing a growl from the lone polar bear.

The zebras create a fine washboard effect

Rubbing their stripes side to side, neck to neck.

A smart pair of meerkats barks up the scale;

A young leopard whines while chasing its tail.

Up on the high ground, some old mountain goats

Bleat several sweet bars of staccato notes.

Then, an African lion adds a deep roar

To the rippling sounds of the sleepy sloth’s snore.

The zookeeper smiles as she hangs up her keys,

Then, humming along, plays the spoons on her knees.

Honorable Mention Poems

Kindergarten-Grade 1

Giraffes by Carly Thayer

All Monkeys by Keira Rice

Grade 2-3

Dolphins by Sonny Rebeiro

Pandas by Jessi Ding

Grade 4-5

The Legend of the Ocean by Aidan Briere

Bald Eagle by Ali Rana

Middle School

Frogs by Tyler Ward

One Moose Standing Strong by Brendan Daly

High School

Animals are We by Mei Lu Barnum

When You Walk in the Forrest by Julia Ferraro

Adult

To an Undaunted Doe by Sr Mildred A. Rothwell OSF

New Jersey Road by M Barbara Duris

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.   As part of the celebraton, we would like you tell us why the library is important to you. Just click on the link in the banner on our home page. Whether you are a job seeker looking for resources to land a new job, a parent looking for free activities for children or a student searchin for information for a homework assignment, we want you to know you are important to use and we are here for you. 

Tina Stewart
Library Director