This is the week! Everything starts!
Please pick up a bright yellow bookmark, available at the
checkout desks, so you will know exactly what’s going on for young people at
Litchfield Public Library. It’s time to
register to participate in summer reading and start to combat summer slide.
What do we mean by summer slide? Children routinely forget 2 or more months of
what they learn through the school year.
It’s the reason teachers have to review and review at the beginning of
each school year. It’s the reason some
of my piano students, sadly, didn’t get past book two because they had to
re-learn everything from the previous year.
Michael Hall, a well-known children’s author, will visit
the library Friday, June 9th at 10:00. I can’t wait to meet him. His books include “Frankencrayon,” “It’s an
Orange Aardvark!” and many other favorites. According to his website, before becoming a
children’s author, “Mr. Hall was an award-winning graphic designer whose work
included graphic identities for the City of Saint Paul, Macalester College, the
Minnesota Historical Society, and the Hennepin County Medical Center.” Mr. Hall lives in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. “My Heart is Like a Zoo” is
my personal favorite among his books.
On Saturday, June 10th, Paul Spring will
return to Litchfield Public Library for a free concert. Mr. Spring is so talented! He is a marvelous guitar player, he sings, and
he writes music. And he puts on a
wonderful, interactive program. He will
start at 10:00. Mr. Spring lives in Minneapolis but last year he mentioned
how much he enjoys getting out of the
city.
Thanks to the teachers and staff at Ripley School who
welcomed me in to present the summer reading program to several classes. We
have traditionally offered field trips to classes, but elementary students have
changed over the years. Field trips take
a lot of time and chaperones. I visited the
Kindergarten classes as well as 3rd and 4th grade classes. This experiment was very successful
and next year we plan to give teachers a choice of a field trip or a visit at
the school. I came away from this
positive experience knowing that I couldn’t do their job!
