See Scotland in one day on April 6, with no passport required.
“An Afternoon Tour of Scotland” is a multi-station interactive program in which patrons take a pretend ride on the train the “Flying Scotsman.” It will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.
Library visitors will follow a train schedule for nine stations and learn something about Scottish heritage at each — Land of Clans and Tartan; Top Pubs and Scotch; Piping Academy; Children’s Village; Top Tourist Attractions; Spiritual Scotland; Robert Burns Land; Kilts and Weapons; Scottish Dance Village.
At the top of each hour, piper Bob Grubb will play two popular bagpipe tunes. On each half hour, the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society will perform.
The program is presented by the Caledonian Society of New Orleans, whose purpose is to study, preserve and teach the culture of Scotland and the Isles. The organization grants scholarships in piping, drumming and dancing.
ALL ABOUT COLLEGE: College Night at the Library, an opportunity for students to meet with admissions representatives, will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 5 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.
This free event is geared for public, private, parochial and home-schooled high school students and their parents.
College night begins at 6 p.m. with a panel discussion that will focus on admission requirements, availability of campus tours, online applications vs. paper applications, application deadlines, popular majors, internship opportunities, types of campus housing, financial aid and scholarship opportunities, and more.
The panel discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
Admissions representatives will be available for further discussion with students. They represent the following institutions.
- Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
- University of Mississippi, Oxford
- Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches
- Loyola University New Orleans
- Louisiana Tech University, Ruston
- Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans
- Delgado Community College, New Orleans
- Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond
- University of Louisiana at Monroe
- University of New Orleans
- Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio
- Nunez Community College, New Orleans
HISTORIC PHOTOS: John H. Lawrence, who for 46 years was director of museum programs at The Historic New Orleans Collection, will discuss his new book, “Louisiana Lens: Photographs from The Historic New Orleans Collection,” at 7 p.m. June 9 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.
175 striking images, ranging from formal 19th-century daguerreotypes to digital photographs, document nearly two centuries of growth and change in New Orleans and Louisiana.
ALL ABOUT HAIKU: Johnette Downing is a local author of children’s books, but she also has a new book of haiku for grown-ups titled “Singing Waters, A Selection of Haiku, Senryu and Haibun.” She will read her poems and then conduct a haiku workshop for adults, at 2 p.m. April 13 at the Old Metairie Library, 2350 Metairie Road.
This writing workshop will illustrate the modern Western approach to haiku, which Downing defines as: a short, unrhymed, one breath poem of Japanese origin consisting of 17 syllables or fewer, written in three lines or fewer, with two concrete images separated by a pause, in juxtaposition relating nature to human nature. Participants will see examples of modern Western haiku, engage in a haiku writing game, and will be encouraged to explore and write haiku as a group and as individuals.
SPREAD THE JAM: Musicians can join a jam session from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. April 7 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.
Those who’ve been playing their instrument for a while and want to jam with other players can come to Come Spread the Jam at the library, where professional musicians will be playing, too. You can gain valuable performance experience, learn new tunes and discover how musicians communicate on stage.
GWEN’S GENEALOGY: Gwen Kelley, a librarian who specializes in genealogy and local history, will lead a series of seminars on Wednesdays this spring at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie. Each session begins at 1:30 p.m. Upcoming sessions are:
- April 4 – Tracing women’s records
- April 11 – Prison records
- April 18 – Genetic genealogy
- April 25 – Genealogical proof standard
DIET AND NUTRITION: Rosetta Danigole, licensed registered dietitian, leads the series on diet and nutrition at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie. This event will feature a mindfulness portion featuring frequent library presenter Rolf van Anders. The sessions occur at 7 p.m. on April 3, 10 and 24.
BARBIE IS BACK: Barbie has completed her trip to Georgia, where she was on display, and has returned to the display cabinets that lead from the nonfiction area into the reference area of the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave. in Metairie.
She is sporting some new togs. As usual, Ken is with her. The collection belongs to Dru Troescher, who made all the outfits for these two characters from library books she’d checked out.
Chris Smith is manager of adult programming at the Jefferson Parish Public Library.
