Do you know any curious student who delights in taking apart a mechanical apparatus and leaving the parts strewn over the kitchen table? I will admit to being such a child, and sometimes I did get all the parts back together and the device working again, but I’m sure not as often as my mother would have wanted.

So I’m delighted to announce that the children’s department of the Bangor Public Library is offering a new program aimed at helping curious kids find out how things work.

Gaelen Saucier, a former electrician, will offer a hands-on opportunity for 8- to 14-year-olds to take apart, investigate, puzzle over and, perhaps, put back together in working order everyday appliances, machines and gadgets in order to figure out how things work.

The library will provide the tools, safety gear and the “specimen of the day” from old blenders to vacuum cleaners. Programs will be held at 3:30 p.m. the third Friday of the month, beginning Sept. 19.

The library also is starting a new club for middle school age students called The Lonely Books Club.

Library staff noted that some of the “golden oldies” from the past – books that have been very popular over the years – are no longer flying off the shelves, books such as “Wolves of Willoughby Chase” by Joan Aiken, “Eight Cousins” by Louisa May Alcott, “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” by John Bellairs and “The Hound of Ulster” by Rosemary Sutcliff.

These are still good books, so we are asking students to take home a lonely book, read it and at the club meeting tell someone else about the book. Once a student has read three “lonely books,” he or she will get a $5 gift certificate to the Briar Patch and a club T-shirt.

The club will meet at 3:30 p.m. the first Friday of each month starting Oct. 3. We hope we will find someone willing to make our books happy again. The program is funded by a Bangor Rotary Club grant.

Middle school students are invited to learn how to become professional authors in a workshop, “From Prompt to Published.” In this program, students in sixth through eighth grades learn the basic concepts of writing styles and techniques and how to sell a completed work.

Each week will focus on a different aspect of writing, ending with a completed work. Students will learn what is needed to sell and market a finished edition. The program will be held 5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, starting Sept. 24.

Finally, for this age group (and the library staff), there is The Twilight Party 5-7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21. The library will have a costume contest, trivia games, crafts and prizes based on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, the current best-selling vampire series.

Students are invited to join the library’s Teen Advisory Board. The board recommends additions to the library’s collection, helps plan and assist in programming for teens, volunteers at other library events and contributes to the library’s teen Web page. Meetings are at 3:30 p.m. the first Monday of each month.

Barbara McDade is director of Bangor Public Library. For information, call 947-8336.