OXFORD – The Oxford Memorial Library is geared up and ready to go for its annual Summer Reading Program.
Although the program is already underway with the first presentation last night, there’s still plenty of time for all avid young readers to to sign up, said Youth Services Coordinator Kristina Clark.
“Our program this summer is going to focus on the theme of ‘Dream Big and Read,’” she said, explaining that each week will explore a different variation on the theme such as dreams, wishes, space and the sky (because the sky’s the limit) with a story and crafts or activities.
For example, the program kicked off last night with a presentation about fairy tales. Afterwards, the children received paint stirrers to decorate in any creative way they chose, turning simple wooden sticks into colorful pieces unique to each child’s imagination.
Clark collected the each piece at the end of the evening and will use them to construct a “wishing well” in which the children will deposit their reading logs each week.
The reading logs will measure either how many books each child has completed or how many total minutes of time were spent on a book each day for group projects.
There will be three programs each week focusing on different aspects of the program.
Beginning at 2:30 p.m. each Tuesday, children ages 5-10 will have a chance to experiment with many new and exciting crafts each week ranging from sidewalk chalk to tie-dye to rock-painting.
“The children will have a lot of freedom to choose what kind of crafts they want to try,” said Clark. “They can do team projects or competitions ... and everything they create they’ll get to take home, minus the sidewalk art, of course!”
Friday will include both storytime and crafts. At 9:30 a.m., children can gather in the Community Room of the library to hear a story and then dive right into a project that mirrors the theme of the day.
Finally, there will be a Teen Reading Group at 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays and 6 p.m. on Fridays.
Clark will present the first story time for children on July 11 with an enchanting tale about rainbows before completeing a rainbow themed craft.
On July 18, Dan Wilcox will present “A Flight of Fantasy” which will take the kid’s to new heights with stories about planes and other fun flying machines, said Clark.
Ron Cain will do a magic workshop on July 25 which will include not only a magic show but a beginner’s tutorial. That’s right, said Clark, you’ll actually get to learn a few magic tricks.
At 5 p.m. on Aug. 1 there will be a workshop devoted to dreams, once again put on by Clark, and on Aug. 8 Boomerang Brian will finish up the Summer Reading Program with a how-to demonstration on boomerangs.
All other presentations will take place at 6 p.m.
Clark said the programs are meant for more than just the kids. Parents, family, friends and toddlers are encouraged to attend and learn along with the rest of the children.
“We’re hoping for a really good summer turnout for the program in order to bring more people to the library,” said Clark. “We want to encourage the kids to use creativity and to express themselves with their imagination.”
For more information, contact the library at 843-6146.