When I was a ten-years-old, summer seemed to go on forever. Now, in that odd manner time has of speeding up as you slow down, my sense of summer is blink-and-you-miss it. In between, I was a parent of kids for whom summer was endless, and some days, it felt like that for me, too. Any parent who’s heard “Mo-om. I’m bo-ored” knows what I’m talking about.
Thank heaven for the library, where there was always something going on. Bonus, it kept the kids off the streets.
Children’s Librarian Nancy Radonich has been keeping kids busy through summer programming since my oldest was a toddler (and that’s quite a long time). Since the Summer Reading Club began at least a couple of decades ago, summer for Nelson kids has involved (variously) knights, wizards, robots, dragons, dinosaurs, spies, sleuths, and world travel. The Summer Reading Club immerses book-wary kids in new worlds of reading, and it takes those nose-in-a-bookers off into new flights of activity and imagination.
And (bonus) it makes summer whiz by for parents while for kids, it adds a welcome new dimension to those lazy, hazy, crazy days. This year, add jetpacks for a Summer Reading Club theme of Up, Up and Away!
Each year Nancy is joined by energetic students who add their own flair to jet-pack travel and other good stuff. Marianna had so much fun last year she came back for a second round; Bronwyn is new, creative, enthusiastic, and ready to add the whiz-bang quality you and your kids are hoping for.
So dust off your wings and strap on your jetpacks. Registration has begun: that means kids can pick up their summer reading logbooks, find a shady place to explore new worlds (read, or be read to), feel chuffed as their reading list grows, and even win prizes. It also means kids can get signed up for a whack of activities for kids from three years to eleven. In addition to special sessions of games, crafts, and goodies, there’s Drop in Lego-building, Wild Card Wednesdays, Theatre Thursdays, and Beading Buddies.
This could actually keep me off the streets. It’s unfortunate that Nancy knows how old I am.
There’s more: July 3 at 12:30 p.m. is the Kickoff Superhero Costume Party. Who doesn’t want to be a superhero? Dress as your favourite faster-than-a-speeding-bullet character. Or wear the bunny costume you wore for Halloween. Bunnies can be heroes, too.
Legends of the Forest author Darcee O’Hearn takes kids up, up, and away and into the highest branches of the biggest trees on July 10 and 24 at 1 p.m. These fun programs are sponsored by the Arthur P. Campbell project, which has been adding great nature-based programming, books and more to the library for three years.
And on Tuesday, July 16 at 2 p.m. summer goes whiz-bang-bang with a rock-n-roll kids’ concert featuring award-winning entertainer Will Stroet. This one’s at the legion gym, where real rockin’ can happen (and nobody will say shhhh!). A $2 donation is requested.
When I was 10 we didn’t even have home computers, let alone jet-packs. That’s how old I am. But now, kids and their adults can register, and get info on all things library at nelsonlibrary.ca and follow Summer Reading Club news at http://tinyurl.com/NelsonFB-SRC
Welcome to summer at the library, where the fun just goes on and on.
Anne DeGrace is the Adult Services Coordinator at the Nelson Public Library. Her column runs every other Friday