Book boxes, sharks and squids
Last week I discussed plans for the future. This week let’s talk about the very near future and all the things we have been doing that are not even included in the strategic plan I mentioned last week.
We started an emailing list for not only a monthly newsletter, but for reminders about various programming, and notifications of new material added to the collection. If you have not signed up for it, call us, contact us on Facebook, find the link on our website or just swing by and we will get you all taken care of.
National Library Week is coming up, April 3-9. I have a piece of paper with all my ideas on it, I will finalize them when I get back from Portland, so for now I will give you a little three-word teaser: prizes, snacks, Kindle. Now on to the big item, Summer Reading Program.
SRP is always a major event that requires months of planning, but when you add in a grant, it becomes a whole other monster. Grants are fun to get, but there are timelines, purchases, and planning that honestly insures that you earn every penny. We have our calendars prepared; Brittany’s for the littles, Kelly’s for the slightly biggers, and mine for the teens and adults. We have purchased books specific to the ocean theme, books for book boxes (more on that shortly), more books and items for new activity kits (again, more to come on that), we are preparing lists for craft supplies, creating cool reading records and incentive charts on Canva to be printed later, flyers are already printed, Brittany will be at MCR1 for the reading carnival and to plug SRP, and the list goes on, all in preparation for SRP.
The most exciting part of this year’s grant is the presenters we were able to get. I have mentioned them before, and guess what, I will keep mentioning them, well, at least through the end of July. Kevin Sherry (author and illustrator of The Biggest Thing in the Ocean) will be here on June 29th, Bruce Hale (author of Clark the Shark) on July 27th. These guys are a pretty big deal, and I hope that we will pack the house for them. We have highlighted them on our flyers, I will be creating some posters to post locally and in other area libraries, and remember that mention of book boxes? Well, starting on April 1st we will have 5 different, new book boxes for the kiddos. Three boxes include material from Kevin Sherry and two from Bruce Hale; picture books for the littles, primers for beginning readers, graphic novels for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade, activities relating to the books and cool snacks that also relate to the theme; gummy sharks, cheesy whales, etc. Be sure to come in and check the boxes out, let’s get our kiddos fired up to meet these awesome authors.
Oh, yeah, I also mentioned new activity kits. If you have not visited the library in the last few years, you might not be aware that we have activity kits that kiddos can check out and play with in the library; a kitchen set, magnetic blocks, wooden blocks, etc. For June and July, we will be switching out our kits for items that reflect the SRP theme, Oceans of Possibilities; a collection of sharks, a pirate ship, a coral reef building set, etc.
Last week I talked about planning for the future, but trust me the work and cool things are in the present also.
Upcoming Events: 3/30 Story Time at 10am. Little House Reading Challenge continues, stop by the library for any of the first books of the series.