By Will Robinson, Local History and Genealogy Librarian, Wilson County Public Library
Wilson County Public Library has been busy preparing for this year’s Summer Reading Program. The goals of Summer Reading are:
- To encourage and motivate children and their families to read for pleasure
- To help school age children maintain their reading skills while on school holiday
- To introduce people to the resources of their public library
- To collect reading data for the NC State Library
- To attract new customers to the library
These programs create a bridge to combat the summer slide. Children who continue to read during the summer return to school without decreased reading ability. Pleasure reading encourages lifelong learning and keeps reading skills sharp. Readers adapt more easily and excel in our fast-paced information rich society, so it’s a win for everyone!
Programs for children will be offered at all six locations and for teens at the Main Library, Lucama and Elm City. The theme “Build a Better World” for children at the Main Library will kick off at 7:00 pm on June 12th. “Build a Better Future” will feature urban artist and planner Tom Dawson. He will engage our children in imagining what the City of Wilson may be like in the future. Dawson’s program will be presented thanks to a donation in memory of Paul Macrae Kushner. On the evening of June 19th, we will meet in the BB&T parking lot on Broad Street for a “Touch a Truck” event with construction and community service vehicles. Will Bowman will also be face painting during the event. On June 26th, our program will feature personal trainer, Mark Davis. We will meet on the library lawn for an evening of fun physical activity.
Due to the July 4th holiday, we meet on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, for our “Too Tall Houses” program. Children will be competing in a building challenge with craft sticks and clothes pins. On July 10, 2017, we return to our Monday schedule for an evening of crafting with artist, Victoria Sexton. Each child may craft a flower fairy or monster doll during the program, and is encouraged to participate by bringing their fairy houses, constructed at home, to the library for a chance to win prizes. We wrap up the summer at the Main library on July 17, 2017, with a magic performance by Joy the Clown. We look forward to illusions, animals, and balloon art. This finale is funded in memory of Josephine Macrae Warden.
Prior to most evening children’s events, the Tobs and their mascot, Slugger, will offer chances to receive game tickets & other prizes. To participate, you must come early and be present to win.
Branch programs for children will be held at Black Creek on Mondays (3pm), Elm City (3pm), and Lucama (4pm), on Tuesdays, East on Wednesdays (3pm), and Stantonsburg (3pm), on Thursdays. The East branch programs will be held at the American Legion building at 700 New Bern Street, Wilson NC.
Teen Programs at the Main Library will be held on Tuesdays at 6pm in the Assembly Room. They will begin on Tuesday, June 13, 2017, and end Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Join us this Summer for the “Little Free Library” project, making hats and scarves for the community, building worldly relationships through pen pals, and using yoga to build a better mind, body and soul. On Teen Movie Nights we will be showing Star Wars: Rogue One and The Space Between US.
The Lucama Library programs will be held on Thursdays at 4pm. They will begin on Thursday, June 15, 2017, and end Thursday, July 27, 2017. We will be recycling and repurposing different items to make crafts and art projects that include making flower pots out of CD cases, tie dyeing t-shirts, repurposing fabric to make toys for furry friends, and creating sculptures out of recyclable items. Our most delicious programs will be edible architecture and salsa tasting using herbs grown from the library community garden.
The Elm City Library programs will be held on Thursdays at 2pm. They will begin on Thursday, June 15, 2017, and end Thursday, July 27, 2017. We have action-packed, hands-on programs that include ceramic tile art, soap carving, candy making, and CD scratch art. Our final two programs, popsicle stick chain reaction and fidget spinners are sure to be a hit! There will not be Teen Programs the week of 4th of July. All programs need registration.
Lapsit programs will continue throughout the summer at Main. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, children, birth through two years of age, are invited to the programs offered at 9:30am. Preschool age programs follow at 10am.
The Bookmobile will offer short, fun, hands-on programs at its regular stops in Rock Ridge, Sims, and Saratoga in June and July.
- Tuesday, June 20, 2017 @ 4pm — Saratoga
- Wednesday, June 21, 2017 @ 3:30pm — Rock Ridge
- Wednesday, June 21, 2017 @ 4:30pm — Sims
- Tuesday, July 11, 2017 @ 4pm — Saratoga
- Wednesday, July 12, 2017 @ 3:30pm — Rock Ridge
- Wednesday, July 12, 2017 @ 4:30pm — Sims
The Wilson County Public Library’s Summer Reading Program is made possible by the generous help of the Friends of the Wilson County Public Library. All of these programs are free and open to the public. Contact your local branch to register.
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In addition to the Summer Reading Program, the library will be offering several programs in June at the Main Library, 249 Nash Street W, Wilson NC.
- “An Introduction to Computers” course will be offered in the conference room every Wednesday in June from 3pm to 4:30pm. This cumulative course will require prior enrollment and attendance to all four classes. Contact Mark at 252.237.5355 x.5074 to enroll.
- On Tuesday, June 6, 2017, 1-2:30pm, the jobs program, “Job Applications”, will be offered in the Conference Room. On Thursday, June 27 from 1-2:30 p.m., another jobs program, “What are Employers Looking For?”, will be offered in the Conference Room.
- On Monday, June 26, 2017, 6pm, and again on Friday, June 30, 2017, 2pm, adults are invited to the crafting program, “Paper Flowers”, in the Assembly Room.
