Think Libraries for Summer Fun

With summer approaching quickly, and the economy demanding family fun take a financial backseat to more pressing issues, parents need look no further than the local library for stimulating, exciting, and, best of all, free,  events to keep young minds active all summer long. Libraries all across Athens-Clarke County and surrounding areas offer a variety of activities for all ages, all guaranteed to fill the summer break with family fun, thrills, and a whole lot of learning.

First, it is so important to introduce children into the library at the earliest possible age. Here they can begin to build skills for a lifelong love of reading that will benefit them well into adulthood. Although very young children may not be able to read or write yet, studies have shown that they are more than ready to learn long before they start school, according to Kim James, interim children’s library manager of the Athens-Clarke County Library,

“Early literacy skills are so important,” James said. “The goal is to target children as young as possible to help them be better readers when it is their time to learn.”

Therefore, lap-sit programs such as the twice-weekly story times and special weekly infant story times are designed to help encourage early literacy. Here, parents can get an early start on teaching their children the skills needed to associate pictures on a page with the story they hear.

Second, for older children, there are many more options such as the Read to Rover program, where twice a month children are invited to come to the library and read to a very special dog on a one-on-one basis. Other programs such as special puppet show performances and bedtime story times offer more fun ways to give children the most exposure to reading as possible.

“If we haven’t hooked most children by the third grade,” said Alan Harkness, regional director for the Piedmont Regional Library System, “there’s a good chance we have lost them already. It is so important to get elementary age students in and excited about books.”

Third, and perhaps the most exciting of all, the annual summer vacation reading program is a wonderful time to get children from infants to teens into the library and active about reading. The program is a collaborative effort across 20 states to engage young readers in a healthy competition to read as many books as they can, at their own pace, for prizes.

“Kids that don’t read during the summer can lose up to a grade level of reading ability,” according to Harkness,

But even better than the opportunity to keep reading skills sharp and active over the long break, the vacation reading program brings some of the biggest and most exciting performers in the state and across the country into the library. Elaborate puppet shows, magicians, story tellers and musicians, artists, dancers, jugglers, and more fill the library to promote literacy and give everyone a huge dose of entertainment.

Lee Bryan, known as That Puppet Guy, is one such artist who performs anywhere from 300 to 350 of his one-man puppet shows a year.

“What I like about the library setting is how intimate the performances are,” Bryan said. “The whole atmosphere is family oriented.”

Much of his work geared towards school and library performances is based on classic works of literature such as Aesop’s Fables and Pinocchio.

“Hopefully my performances will inspire audiences to read the classic versions that I base my shows on,” Bryan said. “I like to think my original adaptations will inspire children to create their own adaptations and create more interest in reading and writing.”

With the 2009 vacation reading program themes set as “Be Creative” for children and “Express Yourself” for teens, there is now doubt many stimulating and fun programs will be appearing at the local libraries to brighten up the long summer break. And the libraries are ready and waiting for the kids to come.

“There is no question everybody in this department is passionate about what they do,” Kim James said. “We are all here to get the warm-fuzzies from children excited to read.”

So why not take the time this summer to explore the best resource in town for free, educational, fun and exciting programming for children. With nine Athens Regional Library System branches alone, there’s always a location near you ready and waiting to entertain and educate. All you have to do is open your mind and open a book, and the future will look brighter already for the entire family.