By Stephen Smoot
As school lets out for the summer, the excitement at the Pendleton County Library ramps up. Programs put on by the library and the Friends of the Library aim to give kids a variety of entertaining and educational options to bring them out.
Rhonda Nash, president of the Friends, called the meeting to order at 4:30 last Tuesday in the basement of the library. They generally meet on the first Tuesday of the month at this time and day, but will skip in July.
The day’s priority lay in finalizing discussions about the summer reading program and also the party planned at its conclusion.
In his library report, Walt Johnson noted that summer plans had finalized. “Our plans are lining up,” he said. “We have presenters for every week in the seven-week period.” He added that that the end of summer party would take place on July 27 between 1 and 3 p.m.
The library will be closed on the day of the event.
Both the Friends of the Library and Johnson envisioned something bigger than just a party, however. Johnson described his ideal as an “indoor/outdoor fair on a very large scale.” It will include Tim’s Food Truck, chalk art, bubble making, a ring toss, a black light art wall, and more fun and creative games for attendees.
Johnson stated that “it’s been way too quiet for too long since the pandemic,” and also shared that “anyone who wants to volunteer in any way” for the fair or summer reading program, “is welcome.” Needs include adults to help chaperone.
The group also discussed ordering cupcakes for the fair. Nash suggested that they wait and gauge interest during the summer and decide on how many to order later.
Also, the library will hold a reading raffle. Each child who reads for 15 minutes will get a ticket placed in a jar to be drawn for prizes.
Johnson also reported that, in anticipation of a large order of children’s books, that other juvenile selections from the same subject matter would be sorted and pulled from the shelves. New books include nonfiction works on science and history, as well as books aimed at middle school aged children, “giving kids ideas on what they may want to be when they grow up.”
Also removed from the shelves will be the entire collection of hard copy National Geographic magazines. All will be donated to another facility to make room for other works. Johnson explained that the National Geographic website made all copies available for free online.
Generous donations of books have also started accumulating at the library as volunteers strive to sort them into what goes out for sale and what stays at the library. Johnson and the Friends agreed to request that those dropping off donations do so in the parking lot in the rear of the building. Otherwise, volunteers must navigate the stairs with heavy loads of books.
Many of the books will go into the Treasure Mountain Festival sale this coming fall.
Hours were also set for the book sale during TMF.
