Great library memories were made in the month of July. In the beginning of July, the preschool Storytime had a great time reading about the beach. The next week we read about the zoo animals and they all left as zebras with their zebra masks. As they were leaving the library, Pinky the Dinosaur showed up to take pictures with all the zebras and they received their free book for the summer reading. The last and final Storytime of summer reading was held at the Stuart Farmers Market. We talked about farming and farm animals. After reading a book about bunnies, there was a surprise. Jack, the rabbit, came to be a part of our story time! The children loved petting him and he seemed to enjoy their company as well.
The school age summer reading program was enjoyed by many. The first week they had a program with Mrs. Norma Bozenmayer entitled, “Navigating with Norma” to learn about fairy stones. She was joined by Ben, a Fairy Stone State Park Ranger. Together they taught about the different shapes of fairy stones and they did a search for fairy stones on the patio with dirt collected from the Fairy Stone State Park. The second week Miss Lisa did a program on Fossil impressions and discussed the many different fossils found years ago. Afterwards, they made their own fossil impressions with seashells and tiny dinosaurs using air clay. The third week of summer reading they had a program with the Blue Ridge Animal Welfare League, designing bandanas for shelter animals, as well as their own pets if they wanted to. They created some really pretty bandanas that I know some fur babies are going to really enjoy.
The teen summer reading program was a great as well. The teens enjoyed teen game day the first week of July. They got into groups and had several games going at one time. There was Scrabble, Guess Who and of course, Monopoly. The second week program was hosted by Miss Kaye Moorefield, who challenged their minds in dinosaur trivia and several other topics. They had an old fashion book fair where they each receive their free book for summer reading. They ended their summer reading with teen crafting. Several teens bedazzled books and trinkets; others made beautiful pieces of jewelry. A couple of teenagers painted mini-canvas’, and the teenage guys-built Lego creations.
The summer reading finale was detoured from the Dehart Park pool to the library due to rain but it still turned out great with 54 in attendance. Miss Lisa handed out prizes for all levels and gave everyone in attendance a pool passes due to the fact they couldn’t swim that day. Several children received their swim pass as well for the Splash and Read program that was a part of this year’s summer reading program at the Patrick County branch for Somer’s Leadership program. Miss Lisa read a story “How Do Dinosaurs Go to School”, and then they all went to the patio area for ice pops. The summer reading program was a great success and lots of wonderful library memories were made.
The Lego Club met twice this month and many cool creations were made. One week they made their favorite book character, which led to fun discussion on why they enjoy that book so much. The Youth Art Program had a program this month with Karen Sigmon. She introduced them to Maria Martinez’s art and they made cool creations with air clay. Movie day was held twice the month of July. The featured movies were “The Good Dinosaur “and “Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs”. Delicious popcorn and water were served. Summer Reading has come to a close and it’s time to think about another school year and planning great programs for the wonderful children in our county.
