12 Days of Cookies, 2016 - Day 7: Oatmeal Bears

Made by Sue Mosher, Bookmobile, from Almost Too Cute to Eat, one of the great children’s cookbooks in our collection. Come visit the Bookmobile today in Brooklyn and Summerville for a sample.

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. ground cinnamon

1 ½ cups quick-cooking rolled oats

mini M&Ms (Sue used mini chocolate chips)

plain M&Ms (Sue used regular chocolate chips)

icing, sprinkles, fruit roll-ups, or liquorice laces, as desired

In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg; stir in vanilla. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; add to butter mixture, blending until incorporated. Stir in oats until blended.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. For each bear, roll cookie dough into one 1 ¼” ball for head and three ½” balls for ears and snout. Place head on prepared cookie sheet; flatten slightly. Position snout ball on lower half of head. Set ears against top of head. Flatten ears and snout slightly. If using chocolate chips, press mini chocolate chips above snout, for eyes, and larger chocolate chip into snout for nose. Leave about and inch and a half between the cookies as they spread quite a bit when baking. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. If using M&Ms, immediately add mini M&Ms for eyes and plain M&Ms for nose, pressing gently to secure. Cool on cookie sheets. Use icing, sprinkles, fruit roll-ups, or liquorice laces for other decorations, as desired. (Sue cut out bows from fruit roll-ups and pressed them in place while the cookies were still warm.)

Makes approximately 18 cookies.

Don't forget -- you can Enter to win a Cookie Gift Bag!!

New Bookmobile stops!

The Bookmobile serves some of the Annapolis Valley's outlying communities and neighborhoods, aiming at all ages and interests. The Bookmobile provides access to a wide variety of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction material. You can also find magazines, audio books, and DVDs on the shelves.

Our new Bookmobile offers an exciting library adventure. Based on statistics we have developed stops in community hub locations. We look for community meeting places and develop partnerships to offer mobile library service. Our current community stops vary from one to three hours in length. And we visit communities every three weeks.

Our Bookmobile already offers mobile library service to Springfield, Summerville, Wilmot, Aylesford, Baxter’s Harbour, Centreville, Coldbrook, Maitland Bridge, Cornwallis and Bear River. The exciting news is that we have developed new partnerships to offer additional new community stops! Beginning this month we will offer Bookmobile service to East Dalhousie, Brooklyn, Black River, Hall’s Harbour, Port George, Morden, and Nictaux. 
 
To view our calendar of stops click here. This link will take you to the complete calendar of events for AVRL. You can filter these results by clicking on Outreach Services.

Click on any Bookmobile stop to receive full information on location and time of stop.
The Bookmobile can be seen travelling the Annapolis Valley almost daily. Bring a friend or neighbor and visit us at one of our community locations. Registering for a library card is FREE and can be used at any of our branches as well. If you see this lovely Bookmobile parked in your community, it probably means that we are open to the public. We will be flying a little flag to invite you into the Bookmobile. And please wave as you see us in your community.

Submitted by Wendy Kearnes, Bookmobile and Off-Site Services Manager

Bookmobile Onsite Service

You have probably seen our new Bookmobile driving on the highway, at farmers’ markets, in parades or at a community stop. It is a beautiful vehicle and we are very proud of it. 

Our new Bookmobile has allowed us to develop new services. The Bookmobile now delivers all the benefits of a public library right to the front door of institutions, enriching resident’s lives with books, audiobooks, DVDs and magazines.  Our new customised Bookmobile is equipped with a hydraulic lift in the rear. There are five removable bookcarts on the Bookmobile which supply a good choice of material. Staff offload these bookcarts and take them into senior facilities and adult rehabilitation centres. Our collection and staff provide entertaining and informative materials as well as empower people to make choices and manage their own selections. These services are available free of charge.

Residents and staff of facilities that are served with onsite service are registered individually for a library card and can borrow library material and become responsible for it. They may also make requests and our staff will bring them as they become available. Library staff provide this service for 45 minutes per facility every three weeks. 

Our staff enjoy delivering this service and have met many wonderful people who are grateful to use the library. Well-attended Bookmobile visits can lead to enhanced library services, including special programs. If you would like more information on this service click here or call our office at 902-665-2995 ext. 234. 

Don’t forget to wave to us as we travel through the Annapolis Valley!

Submitted by Wendy Kearnes, Outreach Services Manger

Connecting your food to the farmer: Support local producers

Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley is bustling with farmers' markets again this summer.  These markets have become community meeting places where you can support local producers, artisans and musicians.  You will find soap, flowers, vegetables, meats, baked goods, preserves, jewelry, pottery, handmade crafts, photography, maple syrup, live music, and much more at your local market. Get to know your local farmers and producers and support them. Local food tastes better and is better for you. Buying local builds community, preserves open spaces, benefits the environment, supports local families, and is an investment in the future. It is incredible to immerse yourself in the farmers' market culture, and to learn about the valuable talent and expertise we have in the Annapolis Valley. For more information on Nova Scotia’s Farmers' Markets, visit THIS website.

The Annapolis Valley Regional Library Bookmobile will be at the Annapolis Royal Farmers' and Traders Market on Saturday July 12, 2014. The Bookmobile will also be at the Windsor Farmers' Market on Saturday, July 26,  Wolfville Farmers' Market on Saturday, August 9, and the North Mountain United Tapestry in Harbourville on Saturday, August 23. We are looking forward to meeting you!

                                                   Wendy Kearnes, Outreach Services Manager

Not your Grandmother's Bookmobile...

  There's a cool, new, red-hot vehicle travelling Valley roads this
September.  The Annapolis Valley Regional Library recently purchased a new
bookmobile to serve rural residents.  Cool and bookmobile are not two words
you usually see together, but we think the next generation bookmobile is pretty
awesome looking.

  Sprinter vans are high enough that people can stand up inside them and
come in various sizes.  It's the same kind of large van used by FedEx. With
Blue Efficiency technology this vehicle will provide a much more economical
way for the regional library to provide outreach services to its rural
residents.

  Scotia Emergency Vehicle Systems customized the interior of the van
complete with removable book carts, a checkout desk, and an awning for
storytimes.  The flexibility of the new vehicle allows the library to serve
a variety of users with one vehicle.  Previously a bookmobile bus was used
for community stops and a van was used to deliver to institutions and
satellite sites.

  Designed with bold graphics and the tagline Driven to Read, the new
bookmobile is sure to be a head-turner and will serve as a marketing tool
for the library as well.  The public will start seeing it on the road when
service to community stops, satellite sites, schools and institutions
begins on September 17.

--Wendy Kearnes, Outreach Services Manager

Mobile Library Service

Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley is a beautiful spot. There are apple orchards, rocky inlets and beaches, mud flats, fishing and farming communities, and the North and South mountains. The people who call this area home are as diverse as the geography. Most of the rural communities are well off the beaten path and their strength is due to the residents. 

The Annapolis Valley Regional Library Bookmobile is proud to bring library service to many rural communities. The Bookmobile serves 34 community stops in West Hants, Kings and Annapolis Counties during a three week schedule year round. An example of some of the isolated communities we serve are Summerville and Cheverie (District of West Hants), Springfield and East Dalhousie (Kings County), and Maitland Bridge to Bear River (Annapolis County). The Bookmobile averages 21, 896 kilometres annually with a monthly circulation of 2,266 items. Mobile library service began in 1949 in our region. There are many wonderful stories over the years about patrons arriving to the Bookmobile by tractor, bicycle, four wheeler and even snowmobile, or with a sled, or a wheelbarrow! The community stops which we serve have become community gathering spots, and the Bookmobile has become a lifeline to the communities. Neighbors gather on the Bookmobile to catch up, and to stock up on books, DVDs, magazines, audio books and more. This winter snowshoes were made available for patrons to borrow through a partnership with Annapolis County Recreation. We like the idea of the library providing exercise for the mind and body.

Bookmobile Celebration Tours have been held with some schools. During these events, each class is invited onboard the Bookmobile. Our staff offer interesting informational sessions and share the magic of a mobile branch, followed by a wonderful storytime! It is rewarding to see the children’s faces light up when the Bookmobile travels through their community, and when they bring their families to our community stops. Also for parents who have memories of visiting the Bookmobile as children, to share the wonder of the experience with their children. We eagerly anticipate invitations to be included in community events, and participate in parades and festivals. Click here for a printable invitation to your community event.

Joining the library is FREE! The next time you see the Bookmobile parked in your community – stop by and say hello! We are looking forward to meeting you! Our staff members can register you for a library card and help you meet your reading needs. Click here for a calendar of scheduled stops.

The Bookmobile may be closer than you think.

The Bookmobile is one of the services offered by the Outreach Services Department with the Annapolis Valley Regional Library. Other services include Books By Mail and Van Delivery of book deposits to schools, day cares, institutions and residential facilities. More on these services in the next few weeks!