With schools out for the summer, Greene County public libraries are preparing for another season of summer reading. Both Flenniken and Bowlby libraries will be featuring a summer of Tails & Tales – and offering in-person classes, events, and story times.
The summer reading program at Flenniken kicked off on June 12 with a Tiny Tim Tomatoes class and got into full swing at the Friday, June 18 Summer Quest kick-off party. The kick-off party is also the beginning of Flenniken’s Friday Fun Days. Each Friday, the library will host a fun activity, such as a pet parade, beach day, a visit from the Good Zoo, Mother Goose Day, Magic Makerspace, and a Harry Potter birthday party. The program ends on August 2.
Mondays are for Movie Mondays, featuring an children’s movie, and Middle School Mondays, with crafts and activities for older kids. On Tuesdays, there are two Pre-K sessions with Miss Norma, and during the evening, Teen Tuesdays provides activities and pizza for older children. Two classes on Wednesdays, one for grades 3-5 and one for grades 1-2, will keep our children’s brains working with story time activities, crafts, and experiments; the Lunch Bunch also meets on Wednesdays for grades 3-5. On Thursday, there is a kindergarten class with Miss Norma, crafts with Grace, and a YA movie night. And each Friday has a fun event, as well as Toddler Time with Miss Norma, in the morning and afternoon. Free lunches will be served during the week.
If you’re doing your summer reading through Flenniken, make sure to keep track of the non-fiction books you read. Five Lego sets will be awarded to the reader with the most nonfiction in each school-age category.
Summer reading at Bowlby began on June 21 and runs through August 14. Transition to kindergarten classes will be held on Mondays for 4- to 6-year-olds to learn skills essential for their kindergarten transition. Preschool classes will be held on both the morning and the afternoon on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, school age children (age 6-12) can enjoy fun projects and activities from 10am to 3pm. Toddler Time happens each Thursday in the morning and afternoon, and STREAM/STEM class is that evening. Saturdays at 11am, a block party will be held for younger and older children to play with blocks and/or Legos.
Special events at Bowlby range from outdoor and indoor activities to field trips. On June 30, Bowlby will be holding a special presentation from the Morgantown Science Center about the Tales of Weather. A night of cosmic bingo will be held in June, July, and August for free; also free to participants is the end of summer pool party in August. Bowlby’s annual zoo trip will also happen in August on the last day of the program.
Both libraries will once again utilize Beanstack as part of their summer reading program. They introduced the app last year during the pandemic to provide an online summer reading program to patrons. Beanstack (beanstack.com) is used by more than 1,000 school district and libraries. It allows readers to register in just seconds and begin earning virtual badges, tickets for drawings, and real-world prizes by tracking their reading. Readers can also post book reviews and keep track of activities. The one-of-a-kind mobile app lets patrons time reading sessions, log books by scanning their ISBN numbers, keep a log of current and past reading, and track reading stats, all while completing their summer reading program for Flenniken or Bowlby.
To start your summer reading challenge, visit beanstack.com and search for your local library to sign up. FMI on each program, contact Flenniken Library at 724-966-5263 or flenniken.org and Bowlby Library at 724-627-9776 or evakbowlby.org.
Research shows that reading improves memory and empathy, reduces stress and helps with depression. So start the summer off with a good book – or a few!