Although summer might feel like the distant future during the cold winter months, a couple of public libraries are moving forward with plans specifically designated for that time.
It was recently announced that both the Doniphan and the Van Buren public libraries have obtained grant funding for their summer reading programs. According to a press release from Missouri Secretary of State John Ashcroft, Doniphan Public Library was awarded $3,887 and the Carter County Public Library received $8,614 for the “Adventure Begins Here” program.
Designed to encourage youth to continue to read throughout the summer months, the programs aim to draw more interest in reading from students. For example: Doniphan Public Library has plans to bring in a magician in June and a ventriloquist in July.
“This grant money will help cover craft supplies, books, colored papers,” Interim Director of the Doniphan Public Library April Gore explained. “It’s essentially going to help cover a wide variety of costs to help support the program during the summer.”
Both Gore and Van Buren Library Director Donna Sutton explained that the libraries will also be coordinating with the schools in their districts during the summer school programs in order to maintain interest in reading among the students.
Sutton further explained there will be incentives in place for students to read as many books as possible, and there are different age groups within which children can participate.
According to Carter County Children’s Librarian Cheryl Wright, the Carter County Public Library is a system that consists of three locations: the main branch in Van Buren, and locations in Grandin and Ellsinore.
“All three branch locations will be following the theme, ‘Adventure Begins At Your Library,’” Wright explained. “I did write a grant through the LSTA and IMLS and we were approved to have three presenters.
“I hope to have them scheduled to do their programs at the schools, Van Buren and East Carter, in order for the kids to really get the impact of the presentations. However, we do not have them scheduled yet as the summer schools have not yet been scheduled and I do not have a good timeline in order to set up the programs. The three presenters are: Animal Tales, Circus Kaput and Mad Science.”
Both libraries said they are hoping for a good amount of interest from the youth during the summer reading program.
“We feel like these programs have been successful in the past,” Gore stated. “So we’re looking forward to see how everything goes this year.”