Cape Girardeau Public Library announces its February calendar of events

The Cape Girardeau Public Library is offering these events for February:

* The Winter Reader program, ongoing until Mar. 17, is open for birth to age 12. Sign up to receive and gameboard and startup kit. Sponsored by the Eagles Aerie 3775.

* 10 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday or Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, storytime with a take-home activity for ages 3 to 5.

* 10 to 10:30 a.m. Feb 6, 13, toddler time. Stories, activities and fun for toddlers and caregivers. For ages 18 to 35 months.

* 7 p.m. Feb. 7, Poetry Coffee House participants celebrate Black History Month by reading poems of the "Harlem Renaissance and Langston Hughes." Other choices for black poets might include Gwendolyn Brooks, Countee Cullen and Robert Hayden.

* 3:30 p.m. Feb. 9, Egyptology I, ages 6 to 8. Learn about hieroglyphics, pyramids and mummies. Participants can make a pharaoh hat and participate in a mummy-wrapping contest. To register, call 334-5279 or online at www.capelibrary.org.

* 2 p.m. Feb. 12, Hirsch Community Room. Dr. Frank Nickell, director of the center for regional history at Southeast Missouri State University, will present a program on the Underground Railroad. This free event is open to the public.

* 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 14, 21, 28; March 7, 14, 28; April 4, 11, 18, Great Decisions 2006, the foreign policy community discussion series. There is no March 21 meeting. Topics include an introductory session on the Bush presidency and continue with weekly subjects on U.N. reform, the United States and Iran, Energy, Brazil, China and India, human rights in the age of terrorism, Turkey, pandemics and security. Programs are free of charge. Participants have the option to purchase a discussion booklet. Programs are co-sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Public Library and the Center for Regional History. Call 651-2555 to register for the program or write to Center for Regional History, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701.

* 7 p.m. Feb. 16 Participants will learn about hieroglyphics, pyramids and mummies. They will also make a mummified head and sarcophagus, and participate in a mummy-wrapping contest. To register, call 334-5279 or online at www.capelibrary.org.

* Library closed Feb. 20, for Presidents Day and Feb. 24 for staff development day.

* 7 p.m. Feb. 28, book discussion group, Hirsch Community Room. "Widow of the South" is discussed as part of the citywide United We Read 2006 program. No registration is required. Guest discussion leaders are Scott and Patty House of the Civil War Round Table. For more information, call 334-5279.

* 10:30 a.m. Feb. 28, Meet the Author: Lisa Campbell Ernst, ages 3 to 7 with caregiver. The award-winning author/illustrator will read from her favorites. Children will participate in an art project based on "This Is The Van That Dad Cleaned" while adults talk with the author after storytime. Call or register online.