RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — Summer reading programs serve to bring people into area libraries at a time of year when most children and their parents are more interested in outdoor activities.
Libraries in the River Valley & Ozark region are gearing up for children as well as adults, who still enjoy cracking open a book during the lazy days of summer.
Nancy Allen, adult services librarian for the Faulkner County Library, said reading programs for adults are important on several levels.
“We’re not only interested in getting patrons into the library, but we’re also interested in offering people a chance to expand their scope and explore things that do not ordinarily come their way,” she said.
On Tuesday, Cody Hopkins, who manages an online farmers market called Conway Locally Grown, will present the film The Greenhorns at 7 p.m. Allen said the film will be a feature of Sustainability Month, the library’s way of highlighting locally produced food and sustainable ideas.
On Thursday, Brian Campbell will moderate the film Seed Swap, also as part of Sustainability Month.
Backyard Gourmet on Saturday will spotlight local food prepared by local chefs and restaurants. The Summertime Jazz Band and Buckbell will perform, and patrons can participate in contra dancing.
Music will be a big part of the library’s schedule in July. Its Summer Concert Series includes performances by Buddy Case, 4X4 Crew, Jamie Bosanko and Michelle Jean, The Boomers, The Toneados and the Josh Love Band.
“All of this is in addition to the regularly scheduled events we provide on a monthly basis,” Allen said. “We try to liven up the summer and make the library a place people want to be in the hot months.”
Children, teenagers and “tweens” (ages 8-18) will also find plenty of free activities within the Faulkner County system this summer. Kara Propes, children’s librarian at the Conway library, said summer reading programs are always popular with youngsters.
“Our circulation has been nonstop since school let out,” Propes said. “It is so important that kids continue to read during the summer — it’s almost like we don’t have a choice but to offer these programs. If we don’t promote reading and coming to the library, they’ll be idle. We have to let them know how important reading and literacy are.”
The library offers story times from 10 to 10:30 a.m. each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and Spanish story time at 11 a.m. on those days. Each Wednesday, crafts are offered for children from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and for teens and tweens from 1 to 2 p.m.
Rockey Clements Magic will be featured on Thursday. Juggleology is slated for 1:30 p.m. June 19, and the Groove Club starts at 1 p.m. June 28. The club will have a slumber party.
Young patrons will learn about May’s Farm from 10 to 11 a.m. July 3, and sign-up for illustrations done by Rich Davis begins at 1:30 p.m. July 10. Brian and Terri Kinder will perform music at 10 a.m. July 19, and Magic Nick will entertain children at 10 a.m. July 30.
Tweens can enjoy a Rocks and Rubies Medieval Etiquette Party on Tuesday. Propes said medieval attire is “suggested but not required.” Juggling classes and a game night are also scheduled.
On June 29, members of Arkansas Crimson Nova, a group of people who dress as Star Wars characters representing the Dark Side of the Force and donate their time to charitable events, will hold a Jedi Knight training course.
Teens will hear about the supernatural findings of Arkansas Ghost Hunters on July 13, and a zombie game will be played on July 20. Ghost stories will be told at 8 p.m. July 26, and a “scary movie night” is set for July 27.
Propes said the library offers teens a reading incentive program. For each event they attend, teens have the chance to win an e-reader, digital camera or gift card, and can have a chance to win a Visa gift card by suggesting a book for others to read.
Children and tweens can win a prize for all the books they read over the summer by filling out a form and turning it in at the end of the program in August.
“Our library is a gain for kids,” Propes said. “They have more time to read for leisure, and for them it feels less like homework.”
For more information, visit the website of The Public Libraries of Faulkner and Van Buren Counties at www.fcl.org, send an email to fcl@fcl.org or call (501) 327-7482. Branches are located in Clinton and Damascus, both in Van Buren County; Greenbrier; Mayflower; Mount Vernon; Twin Groves; and Vilonia. Each branch will have specific programs related to the reading program.
Pope County
Registration is under way for children and teenage patrons of the Pope County Library System.
Sherry Simpson, adult and teen services librarian, said the theme for this year’s summer reading program for children is Dream Big, Read! “It has the most extensive participation,” Simpson said of the children’s program.
Free events will be offered at each of the system’s branches in Atkins, Dover, Hector and Russellville. Programs will be held for young patrons in Dover on Mondays, Hector on Tuesdays, Atkins on Fridays, and at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesdays and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursdays at the main branch in Russellville.
The program, for children ages 2-12 who live or go to school in Pope County, offers incentives to continue reading.
“We realize that with our demographics, we’ve got a lot of working families, and moms and dads don’t always have time to bring their kids to the library,” Simpson said. “We offer a readers-only program so kids can still participate even if they can’t make it to all events.”
By logging what they read over the summer, young patrons are still eligible for weekly drawings, even if they leave town on vacation.
Simpson said it is crucial that children continue to read while school is out.
“We’ve talked to different teachers in different schools, and we know how much the kids can lose that reading mindset,” she said.
Emily Moore, children’s librarian, said 724 children signed up for the reading program last summer, and she expects a higher number this year. The six-week program will offer concerts, presenters and prizes for reading.
Simpson said Moore has gone into the community to raise awareness of the summer reading program.
“She’s gone to day cares, private schools and year-end parent meetings at the elementary schools,” she said, “anyplace to get our foot in the door.”
For more information, visit popelibrary.org or call the Russellville Headquarters Library at (479) 968-4368. The Atkins Centennial Library can be reached at (479) 641-7904; the Dover Library at (479) 331-2173; and the Hector Library at (479) 287-0907.
Yell County
Stacey Laurie, the librarian at the Yell County Library, takes a personal approach to her library’s summer reading program.
As a former teacher, she said she realizes the benefits of setting and reaching a goal for individual children. She visits the children who will participate in the program, as well as their parents, to set a personal reading goal.
“I sit down with the parent and a child to get an idea of what level the child is reading on,” she said. “We set a personal reading goal, write it out and have them sign a contract to try to reach that goal. If they reach the goal, they receive a sack of prizes, including a Scholastic book.
“It’s good practice for life. It’s good for them to set a personal goal.”
The library in Danville, which is a branch of the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System, is also incorporating several special programs into its program. The events, which include story times, as well as programs on camping and stars, are designed to fit into the summer reading program’s overall theme, Dream Big, Read!
The main programs will be held at 1 p.m. each Tuesday. This week, the program will feature someone from Mount Magazine State Park to speak on camping. On June 10, a Yell County extension service agent will do a program on stars. The first program, held last week, focused on animals who come out at night. The programs are held in the children’s room, which is set up with a night theme, Laurie said.
The final Tuesday program will be a magic show by Tommy Terrific at noon. Laurie said he will build his magic tricks around the overall program’s theme.
There will also be craft events for children, tweens and teens.
“In the summer, we really concentrate on children,” Laurie said. “We’re such a small town that there’s not a lot for children to do for entertainment. We try to offer something almost every day.”
After the summer reading program ends June 29, many of the programs will continue throughout the summer, she said.
For more information, visit www.arvrls.com/yell_county.html, email ycl@arkwest.com or call (479) 495-2911.
Perry County
The Max Milam Library in Perryville, a branch of the Central Arkansas Library System, aims to reel in children and adults alike for its summer reading program that begins this week.
Among the program’s events is a fishing derby that will be held at Lake Sylvia from 8:30 to 11 a.m. June 23. The derby is only for children participating in the reading program.
Other events include a children’s program each Tuesday. A preschool program will be held at 10:30 a.m., followed by an elementary-school-age program at 2 p.m. and one for teens at 4 p.m.
A kids movie time will be held at 12:30 p.m. each Thursday. A Monday movie, featuring books that have been turned into movies, will be held for adults at 12:30 p.m. each Monday.
The program will wrap up at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 2 with a performance by Brian and Terri Kinder.
“It will serve as a wrap-up for the program and an end of-summer, back-to-school event,” said Denise Northcutt, assistant manager and children’s programmer for the library.
Of course, reading books are part of the program. Northcutt said there will be some awards at the end of the program, including T-shirts and bags of goodies for the children. Adults who sign up for the program will receive a book bag. She said the items are being used as an incentive to read, not as part of a competition.
For more information on the program, go to www.cals.lib.ar.us/about/locations/milam.aspx or call (501) 889-2554.
Maumelle
Registration for the summer reading program at the Maumelle Library, another CALS branch, has already begun. Kathy Gunter, a children’s librarian, said registration “has been going like gangbusters. We’ve had lots of people.”
Gunter said her library’s program is designed for babies to adults. There is a theme for each age group: Dream Big, Read! for babies through age 12, Own the Night for teens and Between the Covers for adults.
Each child who signs up will receive a bag that contains a reading log designed like a bingo game that allows participants to receive various prizes, which she calls “treasure boxes.”
“It could be categories like ‘Read a poetry book’ or ‘Read an award-winning book,’” she said.
Programs for children will be based on a nighttime theme. A program will be held for a different age group each day. Program times are 9 to 10:30 a.m. Monday for children ages 9 to 12, 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays for 6- to 8-year-olds, 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 Wednesdays for 3-to 5-year-olds and 10:30 a.m. for infants to 2-year-olds. The programs will range from story and playtime for 5-year-olds and younger to craft time for the older children.
Teens can fill out coupon books to try to win a Walmart gift card. Each time teens complete an activity to fill out a coupon, they will receive an entry into the drawing.
“It may be writing a book review or showing a librarian a special talent,” Gunter said.
There will also be a Creatures of the Night movie marathon on June 25. Red Riding Hood will be shown at 2 p.m. and Green Lantern at 4 p.m. A second movie marathon, Heroes of the Night, will be held July 23. I Am Number Four will be shown at 2 p.m. and Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone at 4 p.m.
Adults may participate in the program by writing book reviews for each book they read to receive entries into a drawing for a Walmart gift card.
The gift card drawings will be held each week for the teens and adults. The first drawing will be held June 22, with the last drawing set for July 20.
On July 2, The Kinders will hold a concert at the library. The program will wrap up the week of July 23 with a campfire party, Gunter said.
For more information, go to www.cals.lib.ar.us/about/locations/maumelle.aspx or call 501-851-2551.
Cleburne County
The Cleburne County Library in Heber Springs and the Greers Ferry Branch Library in Greers Ferry are also using the Dream Big, Read! theme for their summer reading programs for children ages 2 to 12.
Programs for preschoolers will be held at 10 a.m. and for school-age children at 11 a.m. Saturdays through July 21, except for June 30. The programs will feature a Cat in the Hat program this Saturday and Tommy Terrific’s Wacky Magic on June 23 at the Cleburne County Library. Children’s book author and illustrator Rich Davis will visit the library July 14, and the Wolfe at the Door Puppet Show will be held July 21.
Children can keep track of the books they read on a reading log. Participants who turn in their logs at the end of the program will receive book bags with prizes.
For more information, call the Cleburne County Library at (501) 362-2477 or the Greers Ferry Library at (501) 825-8677; or visit www.cleburnecountylibrary.com.
Fairfield Bay
The Fairfield Bay Library is participating in the Dream Big, Read! summer reading program. Children ages 1 to 12 may participate, and prizes will be awarded to the children who spend the most time reading in three age groups, said Sara Michael, director of the library. She said children will be given a reading log to record every 15 minutes of time they spend reading or are read to.
The library will hold two special events as well, including Tommy Terrific’s Wacky Magic at 10:30 a.m. June 29, and a chance to see and pet two live Arabian horses from 9 to 11 a.m. July 4 at Woodland Mead Park.
For more information, call (501) 884-4930.
Conway County
The Conway County Library in Morrilton will hold several events as part of its summer reading program.
The program starts Thursday with a Kick-Off Event at 2 p.m. Personnel from the Morrilton Police and Fire departments will be on hand to talk about personal and fire safety, and have several emergency vehicles on display, according to the library’s website. The summer program will run through July 26, with special guests at 2 p.m. each Thursday. The program’s finale will be held July 26 with a “Night in Wonderland” event where kids can come dressed as their favorite character from the books they’ve read. No specific time was available.
For more information, call the library at (501) 354-5204 or go to www2.youseemore.com/conwaycl/.
Staff writer Daniel A. Marsh can be reached at (501) 399-3688 or dmarsh@arkansasonline.com. Staff writer Donnie Sewell can be reached at (501) 918-4527 or dsewell@arkansasonline.com.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 135 on 06/10/2012