Author: atwiford

The beats heard on July 15 at the township library came from the first of three planned summer social dance nights there.

Participants were encouraged to come out whether or not they had a dance partner; they would be matched with other solo attendees for social dancing with groups or partners in an informal setting. Instructors Tony Castro and Nina Rubinstein taught the night’s dance: the rumba.

Jasmine Riel is the teen librarian, but she organized the adult dancing and asked Castro, her uncle, to teach the session with Rubinstein.

“They social dance all the time …” Riel said of the duo. “What’s great about having it here is that it is free for everybody to attend, whereas in a lot of other places, it might cost money and it’s a commitment … Here, what’s kind of great about a lot of the instructional programs, whether it’s a dancing program or crafting program, is that it’s a much more informal learning setting.

“You can get your feet wet, you can try something new.”

Participants split themselves into two groups of leaders and followers; two partners can’t do both. Before practicing the rumba, Castro and Rubinstein encouraged the dancers to listen to the music before moving. They then partnered up with the person across from them to begin practice. 

Besides teaching the dance moves themselves, Castro and Rubinstein offered tips on what would make partner dancing easier, such as finding a connection between two people and keeping a relaxed frame to feel the movement of the lead dancer. 

“Don’t worry too much about the steps, because the steps follow,” Castro explained. “If your posture and your mechanics are not right, then the steps are going to be either difficult or it’s not going to be correct. And once it’s not correct, your partner will sense that, and both of you will be lost.”

He and Rubinstein demonstrated how leaders should turn their partners for part of the rumba where two people no longer hold each other by both arms, but one. They emphasized the importance of communication and trust between partners, even asking the followers to practice closing their eyes so they could be led by their partners.

“Based on the conversation I had with most of the attendees,” Castro reported, “everybody was happy. And a couple of ladies said, ‘This is the first time I danced with my husband, and we didn’t argue about it.’”

What Castro and Rubinstein emphasized most about social dancing was that it is supposed to be fun. They told students no to worry too much about making the wrong moves, but to focus on enjoying the dance itself.

“I was really excited,” Rubinstein said, “because everyone was excited, and everyone came here just to have fun.”

In order to keep kids and teens occupied during the summer, the township library hosts several weekly events aimed at children and teenagers.

One of them was Disney Bingo on July 9, an activity open to students in grade six through 12. 

“Some things only middle schoolers are interested in, or there are some things that only high schoolers are interested in, but I do find that Disney, across the board, is a pretty loved theme or topic that kids and teens just love in general,” said teen librarian Jasmine Riel.

Bingo was broken into two rounds with cards that had the titles of Disney and Pixar movies in each square. The library version of the game also involved trivia. Instead of just movie titles called out to the players, they got a clue from which they figured out a title.

“I wanted to do Bingo to give away prizes,” Riel noted. “Giving away prizes is always fun. But also I wanted to make it a little bit more tricky. So instead of just obviously saying the movies and having them cross it out, I did hints. So I kind of made them use their brain a little bit.” 

Clues included clips from Disney songs, movie stills, scrambled titles, character silhouettes, fill-in-the-blank letters and movie plots described in haikus or emojis. 

“I like testing their knowledge,” Riel explained, “but also like the feeling of success when they’re like, ‘Yes, I know that one. Oh, but I don’t have it.’ There’s just a lot of emotions that kind of erupt throughout the program, which makes it more of a fun experience, an interesting experience.” 

A mix of old and newer Disney films was selected for answers, so players would be challenged but also have the ability to find answers for films more familiar to them. When one of the players got Bingo, teen library volunteers would read their answers. 

Jake Chan was one of them.

“It went great as always, with Jasmine running it,” he noted. “It was a good time; I had a good time. I was one off from Bingo. But, you know, it’s how the cookie crumbles. But looks like everyone had a good time, and that’s what matters.”

Two bins contained one prize each for tiers one and two. Tier-one prizes were larger items wrapped in red paper and gold ribbons to surprise the winners. Tier-two prizes included Disney-themed pens and multi-colored hair bows with Mickey or Minnie ears attached, all unwrapped so winners could choose based on their preferences.

Six tier-one prizes were opened at the completion of the second Bingo round: a water bottle with Stitch from “Lilo and Stitch”; a Winnie the Pooh figural night light; a “Toy Story” mug; a Mickey Mouse Funko Pop; a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle of Tigger from “Winnie the Pooh”; and an adventure book, a blank replica of the scrapbook made by the characters in “Up.”

Bingo winners could use them for their own memories and photos.

The Friends of the Cherry Hill Public Library recently hosted six days of book sales that began on July 7 and raised funds for the facility.

The Friends also supports the library – and itself – through donations, volunteer services and memberships. But the largest fundraisers are the library’s annual book sales.

Tierney Miller is the library director.

“We’re really appreciative of the Friends of the Library,” she said. “There’s so many great volunteers that we have … It (the sale) is really a joint effort. The volunteers from the Friends do all the sorting all year long, so that we can have these sales, and then they do so much work to help the sale get off the ground in conjunction with the staff.” 

The book sales are held three times a year, one each in spring, summer and fall. Most items for the July sales were donations collected by the Friends, though some of the titles were among those removed from circulation, usually because there are more copies than necessary. 

The Friends collects and sorts donations of books, audiobooks, CDs and DVDs that are set up for shoppers on the lower level of the library. Friends’ members got early access to the July sales on the first two days.

“The sale is going wonderfully,” noted Marlyn Calitan, president of the Friends of the Library, “and we really appreciate the township putting their effort behind it and coming out and buying our books.” 

Books for adults from all genres – fiction, cookbooks and nonfiction, among others – were set up in the conference center, CDs and DVDs were on the lower level and children’s books were placed in the Joyce Alexander Walker Multicultural Room. 

“The materials are a really, really diverse array of things,” Miller pointed out. “We have tons of music CDs … everything from ’80s pop to classical music to modern, newer things. And the books, just all night, I’ve seen people coming up with brand new hardcovers, and then a book that might be decades old.” 

Library staff and volunteers from the Friends worked the sale, helping customers by holding large piles of books at the checkout table, counting the items and assisting them with loading shopping bag books. While donations had been collected throughout the year, they continued to arrive at the library during the sale.

Rob Schumacher is a member of the Friends and one of the volunteers who worked the sale.

“Once that book sale sign goes out in front,” he said, “cars just pull up in the back with more donations of books. We appreciate that as well.” 

The next book sale will be held from Nov. 11 through Nov. 16.