Eureka! Summer reading fun!

Times Reporter  

 

Each year the Strathmore Municipal Library offers a summer reading program for families in the community. Normally the details are not announced until after the coordinators have been hired, but due to excitement and interest from the community, Carmen Erison, assistant director of library services, announced it a few weeks early. 

“The theme this year is Eureka. It’s quite an exciting theme, Eureka is structured around invention, creation,” said Erison. 

Erison said in libraries right now there are makerspaces, a program that has taken flight. A makerspace is a shared area where people can gather and collaborate to create things while sharing tools, resources and knowledge. 

“Libraries have been makers all along, we have always been about creating crafts and such and this year they have really jumped on board with that whole movement of the maker space and that’s where Eureka came into play,” said Erison. 

This summer is going to be all about sparking your imagination and creating new things.  

“I see the program becoming a little bit drawn into what the children imaginations’ are and what they want to create in their own minds, and their types of crafts,” said Erison. 

Registration begins at the library on Saturday, June 14 at 10 a.m. It is $5 per child and the first 120 children registered will receive a free T-Shirt, which is basically what the registration fee goes towards. The program will run from July 7 to August 22, with Mondays to Thursdays being designated to different age groups.  

The library is also offering something new this year for those who want to be involved in the summer reading club but can’t make the program.

“You can participate with the summer reading club without coming to the weekly programs by simply coming down to the library, picking up a reading passport and collecting the stickers all summer long, and that is completely free of charge,” said Erison. 

Those in the program can expect lots of crafts, fun prizes and games throughout the summer.