 Ready or not, summer is just around the corner! And with it comes the library’s annual Summer Reading Program. This year, we will be having activities starting in late May, and throughout both June and July! The theme for kids this year is “On Your Mark, Get Set… Read!” There will be lots of fun guests and activities here at the library, including an obstacle course, life-sized board games, the Kansas Cosmosphere, Rattlesnake Andy, a Curious George presentation, and former KU Basketball player Scott Novosel! Summer reading kicks off on Monday, May 23! Kids and teens can earn prizes by reading and coming to library activities this summer.
Sign up your child on our website at: http://lmlibrary.org/summer-reading-signup-kids
Teens can sign up at: http://lmlibrary.org/summer-reading-signup-teens
The library has entertaining activities to tide you over until Summer Reading gets here:
- Tuesdays at 6 pm and Thursdays at 11:15 am: Storytime! Join us for stories, songs, and a craft.
- Wednesdays at 4 pm: Lego day! Come build with us.
- Wednesday, May 18 at noon & Thursday, May 19 at 6 pm: Coffee and coloring! Enjoy a variety of coffee and tea flavors as you snack and converse and enjoy the relaxing world of adult coloring! Adults and teens welcome.
- Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20: Kids and teens can join us for a craft and games at 1 pm, followed by a movie at 2 pm! Popcorn and lemonade will be served during the movie.
Then Summer Reading Program starts, and there will be lots of fun stuff happening:
- Monday, May 23rd at 6 pm: Summer Reading Kickoff, featuring Poppa D. Clown!
- Tuesday, May 24 at 6:30 pm: Recipe swap! Join us this month for a Barbeque cookout. Bring something to share or just taste all the great recipes people have.
- Tuesdays at 11:15 am: Storytime for Wee Ones & Toddlers (0 – 36 months) – If you have children in different age brackets, you are welcome to bring all of them to the storytime that works best for your schedule.
- Tuesdays at 2 pm: Storytime for kids entering 3rd – 5th grades – This summer, we’ll be reading about sports, exercise, and eating healthy.
- Tuesdays at 4 pm: Teen movie & coloring in YA area. Enjoy some summer films and color from our adult coloring books. We have everything from owls to Doctor Who and Marvel’s Civil War! Refreshments provided.
- Wednesday, May 25th at 2 pm – Scavenger Hunt – We provide the clues, can you find the prizes? For all ages.
- Wednesdays at 4 pm: Lego day! Come build with us.
- Thursdays at 11:15 am: Storytime for Preschoolers & Kindergarteners – Stories, crafts, and songs.
- Thursdays at 2 pm: Storytime for kids entering 1st & 2nd grade – Quote the adult theme for this year, “Exercise your mind: Read!”
- Thursdays at 4 pm: Videogame & Tabletop game club for teens – We have Playstation 4, Wii, and Xbox One, not to mention every tabletop game you can think of! Play some Madden or Apples to Apples, or challenge yourself with Settlers of Catan!
- Fridays: Crafts & games at 1 pm, movie at 2 pm! Popcorn and lemonade will be served during the movie.
- Saturday, May 28th at 1 pm: Open Mic Day! Singing, music, acting, poetry, and ending with a karaoke singalong! Participate or watch the show! Talk to Tammy (tammyg@lmlibrary.org) if you would like to perform!
- Monday, May 30th: The library will be closed for Memorial Day.
Please join us for lots of fun as we read, play, exercise, and learn how to eat healthy this summer!
Our Afternoons @ the Library program is in full swing for school-age kids. We’ve had a lot of game play, building of things, and creativity expressed by everyone who has shown up.
Having a weekly door-prize drawing does help, of course. From 4-6pm, Monday through Thursday, the Learning Center and the rest of the library is buzzing with children and young adults. On Thursdays, we let the young adults have a special area away from the other kids, where we can do slightly older stuff. It’s nice to hear the children playing and learning, and to talk to them. Boy do we talk. I know absolutely everything there is to know about the town’s water park, thanks to one girl, and about one young man’s frustrations with Ant Man not being part of the Avengers yet, in the movie universe. We play, we experiment, and sometimes the craft project actually comes out the way we intend. Apparently that tiny triangle piece goes on the owl’s head. It only took us two hours to figure it out, the other day.
I know the kids enjoy it; they wouldn’t keep coming back. But I enjoy it too. I get to hear their ideas, watch them have fun and discover things, and maybe have an impact on their growing and learning.
I’m getting another chance to do that, starting tomorrow, the 21st. Monday at 5pm, the library is hosting it’s first Girl Scout meeting. Troop #690559 is about to start a year of discovery for girls in grades kindergarten through third. It will be my first time as a volunteer, and not as a scout, so I have as much learning to do as the girls! It should be fun for all of us. (If your child is interested, there is still time to register either at the meeting, or online at kansasgirlscouts.org)
We’ve also discovered adult coloring books. It seems that we’re a bit on the back end of this trend; people all over the Internet are enjoying these intricate pages, meant to reduce stress while inspiring creativity. We’ve been passing around a book at the library, so everyone that works here can color a page. And next month we’ll be having two coloring play dates for adults. Thursday, October 15th at noon, and Thursday the 22nd at 6:30 pm, we’ll be hosting an adult color-in, so we can all enjoy this new hobby together.
Lastly, my major learning experience for next month is going to be all of our makeup and costuming classes. I’ll be working with the younger kids on Tuesdays, and the older kids on Thursdays, and a professional artist will be coming into the library on a Thursday night and Saturday. We’ll be making animal ears and tails, painting faces like creepy dolls, making hoods out of pillowcases, and working on the occasional obligatory zombie face. I have a theater background, but it’s sure to be an interesting time, doing so many makeup and costume programs in such short succession. I’m hoping to be a red fairy for Halloween, so I’d better get my practice in, now!
 Summer Reading at the Library is in full swing. Our first week is in the books and we are now moving on to our second week. Thanks to all who signed up and attended events the first week.
Last Monday we had Boot Camp with the National Guard, Medusa’s Funky Hair, and multiple programs for Young Adults in the Learning Center. For Adults we had Recipe Swap (my new favorite program), Nonfiction Book Club, and Trivia Night.
For the second week of Summer Reading we will have the following special programs:
For kids we will have:
 Truck Day, Tuesday 2pm-4pm.
The parking lot will be host to all kinds of different trucks and work vehicles. Rough, tough, and heavy duty. Get up close and personal with the vehicles! Have all of your questions asked by the people who drive them.
Hometown Heroes, Tuesday at 6pm.–Seward County EMS is going to be on the scene. Come check out these Hometown Heroes and learn more about the work they do in our community.
Smoky Hills TV, Wednesday at 2pm. –Smoky Hills TV is coming back to the Liberal Memorial Library. This program is aimed at children 8 and under.
 Mad Science, Thursday at 4pm. –Mad Science is showing off superhero science at the library. You’ll see if superheroes really can fly and maybe see a few super powers demonstrated. Free and Fun for Children of all ages.
For young adults we will have:
YA Fanfic and War, Monday from 4pm-5:30pm: Feature such topics as Shojo Anime, Halo, Fanfic: the good, the bad, the ugly; and the Watchful Owl.
YA We All Wear Masks, and Thursday from 2pm-3:30pm: Features Fanfic Redux, Is the hero the man or the mask? What is your mask? And Manga fresh from Japan.
YA Ask Darth Vader, Saturday starting at 11am: Meet the men behind comicon’s Stormtrooper and Darth Vader! Ask about how they made their awesome costumes, the 501st Legion and More!
For Adults we will have Adult Crafts on Monday at 6pm, Library and Lunch on Tuesday at Noon, and Healthy Fun Night with Kay Burtzloff on Thursday at 6pm.
In addition to these special events we also have events every day for children.
And I hope that the adults in our community do not feel left out. For them we have Adult Summer Reading. You can participate in the June program, or just stop by to fill out drawing slips with a book you have read. We will draw for prizes each Friday. Currently prizes include a $25 Amazon Gift Card, Summer Reading Shirt, and more.
It is not too late to stop into the library and take advantage of these awesome programs and opportunities. All programs are free and a lot of them also offer snacks.
See you there!
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