Oxford library sparks creativity with summer reading program
OXFORD – This year, Oxford Memorial Library’s summer youth reading program is all about encouraging kids to tap into their creative side and enjoy reading during the summer months, according to Youth Services Clerk Naomi Cronk.
Summer reading programs are important, Cronk explained, so students can maintain or increase their reading skills while school is out. “And it’s just plain fun,” she said.
This year, with the help of Summer Youth Program Coordinator Kristen Cronk and new Youth Services Clerk Shannon Brandt, Cronk has planned a host of activities and events in keeping with the program’s general and teen themes of “Be creative @ your library,” and “Express yourself.” The focus is on hands-on activities which keep kids engaged and tie reading in with music, art or other creative pursuits.
One of the first events will be a free show by musical comedian Jim “The Spoon Man” Cruise, author of “Spoon Boy.” The presentation, which is funded in part by Senator Thomas Libous’ BOOKS program, will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7 in the Oxford High School Performing Arts Auditorium.
Other activities throughout the summer will include tie dying, ice cream making, an opportunity to design your own book cover and a photographic scavenger hunt.
Another, which Cronk said she is really looking forward to, is a lesson in sidewalk art by Chalk Artist Eric Maruscak from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on August 12 on the sidewalk in front of the Oxford Middle School. According to Cronk, chalk will be provided for participants, who are asked to bring a simple design to recreate.
She also recommends bringing a camera. To learn more about the artist, who is known for his chalk depiction of comic book heroes and villains, visit www.pepperink.com.
For students age 11 and up, the library will have a Teen Crafts program at 1:30 p.m. each Monday in July. Other teen activities, including an opportunity to make a banner to be used for the program in future years, are also being planned, Cronk said.
Tying in to the overall art theme is the book Cronk selected for this year’s Lunch Bunch: a novel of mystery and intrigue called Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. The reading group, which is for students in fourth grade and above, will meet weekly to discuss the book beginning July 10. A $5 refundable deposit is required and those interested should contact the library to register as soon as possible. Each participant will receive a free copy of the book.
Summer reading logs, where participants track the number of minutes they read, remain the core of the summer program, according to Cronk. Once they are registered for the the program, students track the time they spend reading in their log, which they turn in weekly to qualify for prizes and drawings. Readers with 300 or more minutes by the completion of the program will receive both a certificate and a free book.
The combined effort of the program’s 84 “voracious” readers topped 26,676 minutes last year, a record which Cronk of course wants to exceed this year.
For more information on the summer reading program, visit the library or call 843-6146.
Summer reading programs are important, Cronk explained, so students can maintain or increase their reading skills while school is out. “And it’s just plain fun,” she said.
This year, with the help of Summer Youth Program Coordinator Kristen Cronk and new Youth Services Clerk Shannon Brandt, Cronk has planned a host of activities and events in keeping with the program’s general and teen themes of “Be creative @ your library,” and “Express yourself.” The focus is on hands-on activities which keep kids engaged and tie reading in with music, art or other creative pursuits.
One of the first events will be a free show by musical comedian Jim “The Spoon Man” Cruise, author of “Spoon Boy.” The presentation, which is funded in part by Senator Thomas Libous’ BOOKS program, will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7 in the Oxford High School Performing Arts Auditorium.
Other activities throughout the summer will include tie dying, ice cream making, an opportunity to design your own book cover and a photographic scavenger hunt.
Another, which Cronk said she is really looking forward to, is a lesson in sidewalk art by Chalk Artist Eric Maruscak from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on August 12 on the sidewalk in front of the Oxford Middle School. According to Cronk, chalk will be provided for participants, who are asked to bring a simple design to recreate.
She also recommends bringing a camera. To learn more about the artist, who is known for his chalk depiction of comic book heroes and villains, visit www.pepperink.com.
For students age 11 and up, the library will have a Teen Crafts program at 1:30 p.m. each Monday in July. Other teen activities, including an opportunity to make a banner to be used for the program in future years, are also being planned, Cronk said.
Tying in to the overall art theme is the book Cronk selected for this year’s Lunch Bunch: a novel of mystery and intrigue called Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. The reading group, which is for students in fourth grade and above, will meet weekly to discuss the book beginning July 10. A $5 refundable deposit is required and those interested should contact the library to register as soon as possible. Each participant will receive a free copy of the book.
Summer reading logs, where participants track the number of minutes they read, remain the core of the summer program, according to Cronk. Once they are registered for the the program, students track the time they spend reading in their log, which they turn in weekly to qualify for prizes and drawings. Readers with 300 or more minutes by the completion of the program will receive both a certificate and a free book.
The combined effort of the program’s 84 “voracious” readers topped 26,676 minutes last year, a record which Cronk of course wants to exceed this year.
For more information on the summer reading program, visit the library or call 843-6146.
dived wound factual legitimately delightful goodness fit rat some lopsidedly far when.
Slung alongside jeepers hypnotic legitimately some iguana this agreeably triumphant pointedly far
jeepers unscrupulous anteater attentive noiseless put less greyhound prior stiff ferret unbearably cracked oh.
So sparing more goose caribou wailed went conveniently burned the the the and that save that adroit gosh and sparing armadillo grew some overtook that magnificently that
Circuitous gull and messily squirrel on that banally assenting nobly some much rakishly goodness that the darn abject hello left because unaccountably spluttered unlike a aurally since contritely thanks