Cloudy / 52° F
Summer reading a success
Published 10:17am Thursday, August 4, 2011Saturday, Aug. 6t is the last day of the annual Summer Reading Program at Fergus Falls Public Library. This has been my first summer working at FFPL and what an exciting, adventurous, and busy summer it has been.
We registered more than 700 children, birth through fifth grade, for the “One World, Many Stories” program. Participants kept track of how much time they spent reading, or being read to, for a chance to win weekly prizes.
We handed out more than 800 reading logs (some children completed more than one) and almost 1,800 weekly prizes. When children finished 20 hours of reading, they were able to turn in their logs to get a free book and other special
rewards.
Our participants, so far, have recorded almost 3,000 hours of reading time.
Children were also able to participate in Summer Reading by attending one of the many programs we offered, including Storytime, Tot Cafe, Book Bunch, Family Folktale Night, and What a Wonderful World. (weekly afternoon programs).
Over the course of nine weeks we
held almost 70 programs at the library including three special evening family events. With money from the Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund we were able to host musician and storyteller Ross Sutter and CLIMB Theatre, both from the Cities. Nearly 80 people gathered to listen to Mr. Sutter’s many musical instruments and humorous travel stories from around the world.
Sixty people enjoyed CLIMB’s performance of Stubby the Elephant, an interactive play based on one of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories.
For the first time ever, FFPL offered a separate Summer Reading Program just for teens.
We had 78 students in grades 6-12 register for our “You Are Here: Fergus Falls, MN” community-based reading program.
Teens could earn a free book and a chance to win the Grand Prize ($50 in Fergus Bucks) by completing a special BINGO sheet.
Each square on the sheet included instructions that required teens to participate in the library as well as the community.
The library held different activities each week for the teens including a digital photography workshop, a geocaching search, and a photo scavenger hunt.
Teens also spent some of the weeks walking, as a group, to different locations for special community tours.
We visited Cafe 116, A Center for Arts, City Bakery, Kaddatz Galleries, and the Fire Department. We had an average of 18 people for the weekly programs and celebrated the end of Teen Summer Reading with an ice cream sundae party and free books.
Fergus Falls Public Library is a busy place all the time, but especially this time of year, when we have our amazing Summer Readers visiting us each week.
It has been an absolute delight to see the youth in our community so engaged and active in the library.
Next year’s Summer Reading theme for children is “Dream Big — Read” and the teen theme is “Own the Night.” I’m already looking forward to it.
“Last, but definitely not least, a big thank-you goes out to our very own Friends of the Library, our additional Summer Reading Progam staff, and all of the wonderful community sponsors and partners. Without all of you, the Summer Reading Program at the Library would not be possible.”
Arielle Krohn is the Youth Librarian at the Fergus Falls Public Library.
