Summer Reading is Here!
Published: 06/29/2010 by Sarah E. Pettigrew
Apple pie is to America as summer is to Bacon Memorial Library, at least that's the way it goes for my children. Every summer, we look forward to cramming stack upon stack of picture books, board books, and easy reader chapter books into the bursting-at-the-seams cloth bags I carry with me each time we visit the library. In my attempt to limit what comes home from the check out, we have a policy: if it doesn't fit in the bag, it doesn't travel, but of course, my children are inventive and very good crammers. We make it out of the library with a mother-load of good reads, and in many cases, they've all been explored by bedtime. In the summer, we are library junkies, and we read with great enthusiasm, often filling up our reading lists before we can make it back to the building to get a fresh form, recording our additional achievements on scrap paper, cheering one another on as our tally of books read climbs well beyond the one hundred mark.
I feel I owe much of this bibliophile-ism to the staff at the library and their patient understanding of children. When I was growing up, I hung out at a different library quite often, partially because I loved reading, but also because my best friend was perpetually grounded and she was only allowed to hang out with me at the library under the auspice that she was completing homework assignments. Our library was a solemn place, where the quiet was weighty enough to intimidate me as an older child. No one was unkind, but I often felt that a misplaced whisper could be cause for certain death.
Bacon Memorial Library is a far different place. With a calendar that boasts almost constant, engaging activities for children and their families, it's easy to see that a spirit of welcome is embraced, especially for young children. As they're pouring out of their craft area and heading into the children's area, preparing to take a plunge into the carpeted bathtub or to build with blocks or piece together puzzles, a chorus of young voices streams about, and instead of shushing, the staff beams. Slacker moms like myself can completely rejoice in the drop-in nature of the activities -- no one's taking attendance or keeping track when we just can't make it because no one got their hair brushed on time, but when you do show up, it's very likely that someone remembers your name and makes you feel like they're glad you made it in the door.
The crafts are ingenious, the storytime sessions lively and thoughtful, and the special guests throughout the summer are the entertaining and age appropriate talents you wish you could afford for your child's birthday party. Best of all, children like mine are rewarded and encouraged for their fascination with reading.
The adult reading program allows grown ups a little taste of the glory as well. For every book adults read, they can enter a raffle for cool prizes. I've been a raffle winner for three years running, and so it's become my mini mom goal to exceed the number of books I read each consecutive summer.
This year's theme is Make a Splash at Your Local Library, and the program's conclusion promises all the fun and excitement of a mini carnival. What are you waiting for?
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