That would be the Shake 'n Bake commercials. To remind us, there's one of those new-fangled blog sites at http://andihelped.blogspot.com that contains blogger Thomas MacEntee's "collection of my mother's recipes, my recipes and the stories behind them. A tribute to my mother who taught me the basics of cooking and gave me a firm foundation in my life. It all started with Shake and Bake and I helped!"

As many of you have heard, America's Promise Alliance, the nation's largest alliance dedicated to children and youth, in partnership with Capital One, announced Jan. 24 that Grand Island was named a winner of its 2008 "100 Best Communities for Young People" (100 Best) competition.

When I read the release on the city's Web site at www.grandisland.com, I marveled at two major aspects of this award: the hard-working writers of the application and all of the governmental and community agencies that work together for the common good to "maintain a healthy community for young people from birth to graduation."

It is so exciting to be one of several city departments with a rich array of youth programs, serving youth from infancy through the teen years, and equally exciting to be collaborating with so many agencies in this community that serve our youth.

In a way, it's like that Shake 'n Bake commercial, especially since what all of us do helps our youth with the basics and beyond of reading, learning, and other firm foundations in their lives.

Did you know?

Last fiscal year attendance at 186 children's programs inside our library totaled 5,861, and attendance at 33 in-library teen programs totaled 602.

We also conduct programs outside the library at daycares and schools and we participate in other agencies' events. These are not all youth related, but many are. In these 162 programs and events we served 32,101. Last year's summer reading program had the best results ever with more than 2,000 children and teens reading about 71,500 books way to go!

More examples of our library's commitment to this community's youth could take several columns, but suffice it to say that we hold to our mission as this diverse community's center for a lifetime of learning and literacy and have committed ourselves to continual improvement as a "Family Place." By this we mean a primary resource in this community for parents, caregivers and youth to come to and to receive vital interactive services, information and support in raising their children.

The Grand Island Independent said it best in a Feb. 2 Saturday Salute column that described the children who could "bearly" contain themselves at our recent Bear Fair in the newly enlarged and renovated library:

"While it is just one of many events on the library calendar, it is a classic example of why the facility is so important to the community. It is a place to learn, have fun and appreciate the assorted cultures that can be absorbed through reading."

So, inspired by the above blogger, click on www.gi.lib.ne.us/andwehelped.html (not a blog yet, but who knows what lies ahead) at our Web site for a collection of our "recipes" of providing a firm and fun foundation of literacy and learning and the stories behind:

* So many youth-related library services at our library and collaborations with so many community agencies that are also devoted to ordinary and extraordinary services for youth and parents

* And so many parents and grandparents of this community who care about our youths' future and youth who care about our community's future

All together we make Grand Island one of the top 100 best communities for young people what a wonderful feeling that we all helped!