by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian
We have a flurry of activity planned at our library in the coming weeks. If your family is looking for something to do, we hope you’ll join us.
On Thursday, June 23rd, the local Born to Read group is presenting a summer reading event at the library. Storyteller Bob Gasch will perform at 6:30 p.m. If you’ve ever seen Bob performing, you’ll know that he really entertains kids and draws them into the stories. We’ll also do an ethnic craft and have a snack, both related to our “One World, Many Stories” summer reading theme. This will be for families with children of all ages.
On Friday, June 24th, we’ll have special guests for preschool story time at 10 a.m. WonderWeavers Storytellers will be performing. Tina Rohde and Colleen Shaskin, the WonderWeavers, are based in Eden Prairie and perform in libraries and schools all over the Midwest. This is one of our Legacy events, which are wrapping up for the year.
If you enjoyed Robert Halbrook’s programs last fall, “Wizard’s School” and “Dark Tales of Mystery & Intrigue”, come see him again on Tuesday, June 28th at 6:30 p.m. He’ll be performing his new magic and reading show, “Professor Marvel’s World of Wonders”. In the show, he’ll take the kids on an adventure through India, England, and other countries around the world, incorporating classic and contemporary children’s books. This program is geared to kindergarteners through fifth graders, but even parents and grandparents enjoyed Wizard’s School in October.
There’s no need to sign up for any of these programs; just come join us in the children’s department.
Our usual schedule of story times has resumed, with Toddler Time taking place on Wednesdays from 10:15 to 10:45; Family Story Time on Thursday evenings at 7:00; and Preschool Story Hour on Fridays from 10:00 to 11:00.
The summer reading program is underway. It’s open to kids ages 3 to 17. If you haven’t signed up yet, ask us at the front desk or children’s desk, and we’ll help you get started. If you have signed up, keep reading and count up to an hour a day of your reading time, and bring in your completed reading logs for prizes.
Our two children’s book clubs are meeting this week and next. The middle school book club is meeting on Thursday, June 23, at 3 p.m. to discuss Gulliver’s Travels (the group’s choice at last month’s meeting). The after-school book club, which is for grades 3-5, is meeting the next Thursday, June 30, at 3 p.m. There’s a book chosen for this month, but we might be spending most of our time on an art activity this time instead; you’ll have to drop in and find out. Kids are welcome to join our book clubs at any time. Just come to the meeting or ask at the library desk ahead of time to get a copy of the book.
If you’re not a child but a senior citizen, there’s a library book club for you, too. We have a book club for retirees/seniors that meets at Emmaus Place on the first Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. We have decided to carry on through the summer this year. Because of the renovation project beginning at Bethany Home, we will be meeting in the activity room in the basement of Emmaus Place instead of our usual meeting place, the Fireside Room. For our next meeting on July 7th, we’re reading The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. The books are not always that literary, but we do read classics from time to time. Other recent books we’ve read include The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, The Haymakers, and They Named Me Marjorie. If you’d like to join this book club, stop in to talk to me or give me a call at the library.
One activity that’s for all ages is our book sale. Our monthly Friends of the Library book sale normally takes place on the third Saturday of every month. In July, we’ll be holding it on the Saturday of Watercade instead, July 9th. Prices range from 10 to 50 cents per item, and the proceeds benefit the Friends of the Litchfield Library.
Look where you’re walking as you make your way here through the construction! But we hope we’ll see you here at the library in the coming weeks.
