Hoping to fall in love? Clear your schedule on Oct. 16. The folks at Candlelight Singles can't promise you'll find true love, but they'll help you give it your best shot during a series of parties in restaurants all over Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky that evening. The meet-ups take place from 7:30-11 p.m.; restaurants vary by city.

Registration fee is $40, plus the cost of your dinner and drinks. Bring a friend and get one registration free; bring a group of single pals for a group discount. There will be door prizes given out all evening.

Register at www.candlelightsingles.com or (800) 431-2411 or (513) 761-6201.

Read together

Literacy matters: In recognition of September as National Literacy Month, the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County will host its fifth annual Family Literacy Fair from 1:30-

4 p.m. Saturday at the Main Library branch, 800 Vine St., downtown. Families will find information on reading classes, GED preparation, English as a second language, and volunteering opportunities. Details: (513) 369-4570.

For arts sake

Speaking of family fun, don't miss Families Create!, a program that offers interactive and hands-on activities on selected Saturdays at the Taft Museum of Art. Next up is Make It Six Ways, 1-3 p.m. Oct 9. You'll learn to manipulate a digital photograph of yourself into a series of six self-portraits, a la Andy Warhol, using a variety of media.

On Oct. 16, Doing It With Sticks allows budding artists to create 3-D drawings using found sticks and mixed media; the class is 10 a.m.-noon.

"Meet Melvin" from 1-3 p.m. Nov. 13, when photojournalist Melvin Grier leads a tour of his exhibition and helps participants make their own photographic projects.

From 10 a.m.-noon Nov. 20, you'll learn to make a "Social Portrait" using nontraditional materials like metal, aluminum and telephone wire.

Cost is $4 per child for Taft members, $8 for nonmembers. One adult per child attends free; all others pay museum or gallery admission. Reservations required. Information: (513) 684-4524.

No pain

No strain: Now that the kids have had time to get acclimated to school, they're probably lugging home loaded backpacks to do their homework. To keep Junior safe, here's where your math skills come in: A child's backpack, when filled, should never weigh more than 15 percent of what he does, according to the American Physical Therapy Association.

For example, if a child weighs 80 pounds, he or she should not carry more than 12 pounds of stuff.

E-mail blowell@enquirer.com