small but mighty


As of last night, our Summer Reading counts:
44     Babies
113   K-6
43     Teen
116   Adult

This is Prairie Dawn's 1st Summer Reading Program ever, so I wondered how things would work, but I never should have given it a thought--she brings great energy, a willingness to be silly, and an infectious warmth and happiness to the programs. The kids love her. The parents love her. And even the teens love her--this is a rare gift indeed!

I always tell people that our library is, "small but MIGHTY!" and I really believe that. I am a HUGE proponent of FREE programs, because getting people in can result in 1. new library cards/patrons 2. increased circulation and 3. most importantly, I think, is showing people that this is not their parents/grandparents library. Often when you get someone who hasn't been in a library in years you'll here, "I didn't know you had ______." "I didn't know I could ________!" And that is when you give them your quick spiel! And hopefully make repeat customers out of them!

Anyway, getting off my soapbox and back to summer reading: our small but mighty thing this summer is how many free programs we're offering. With only two of us full-timers working we're still managing to offer between 1-3 programs each day Monday-Friday, with an end result of 55 programs in just 6 weeks!! Obviously the majority of our programs are geared toward Toddlers-Teens, but we do have a smattering of Family/Adult programs. My thing is, if Summer Reading is our busiest time of year let's really do it over the top and have people remembering how great our Library is in 4 years when we have our next Levy on the ballot...it sounds terrible, but you always have to keep that in the back of your head--how do we make ourselves matter in today's world?

Mustache duct tape flip flops one of our teens made!
(awesome duct tape can be found at Michael's
and some Dollar Generals)
So, winding down today, celebrating Curious George's Birthday (many think of today as his b-day because it's when H.A. and Margaret Rey fled war torn Paris with the manuscript!) We're doing Curious George inspired face painting for the kids, so lots of bananas, birthday cakes, and monkeys...nice way to wind down a week that has included: PT Reptiles (I would absolutely recommend him!); duct tape art; STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) projects that featured examining chemical reactions (K-6) and making model lungs (7-12); Father's Day themed family storytime; a movie showing; Adult Writer's Group; a Mars Rover program given by a rep from Armstrong Air & Space Museum; and Wii games. We're living for the weekend...Week 1 of 6 nearly done...

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