Monday, June 20, 2011

Summer Reading

I intended to post daily, but sometimes life happens.  Today I wanted to write about our local library.  The Porterville Public Library is a good, free (as long as you return your books on time), air-conditioned source of summer fun.   Their summer hours are Monday-Thursday 9am-8pm and Friday-Saturday 9am-6pm. 


If you don't already have a library card, it's easy to get; just go to the library and fill out an application.  If you make visiting the library part of your weekly routine it's easy to remember to return your books on time.  Keep the printout they give you listing all of the books you checked out so you can make sure they are all returned.  I designated one of our reusable shopping bags to tote all of our books to and from the library (I try to keep our library books in it--separate from our own books).  Right now there are several designs of cute Dr. Seuss bags in the Target dollar section, get one for each of your kids.  Another idea is to put your library card and the printout of books you checked out in an i.d. badge lanyard and hang from the handle of the bag. 

Story hour is held for preschoolers (and perhaps K-1) children on Tuesday mornings 10-11am.  They read a few books, sing a few songs, and provide a craft for the children.  A few of the readers are really animated and make it fun for the kids.  They usually follow a theme during each story hour, choosing books by the same author or about the same subject.  I made it a point to take my daughter before she started preschool.  There is a lapsit story hour for babies newborn to 18 months every other Thursday at 10:00-10:30am (June 30th is the next one).  I have not attended, as it was not available when my daughter was a baby.

There are summer reading programs going on right now.  Registration is free and is open right now.  You will receive a reading log to record titles of books read.  Earn a prize by reading 10 board books or 50 pages.  Summer Reading Program craft time is Mondays 6-7pm and Wednesdays 4-5pm.

Take a few minutes to grab a book for yourself too.  You may be thinking, "How can I peruse books with my kids?"  Well, with a little preplanning you can browse books online and pick them up at the library.  Even if  you're not a reader there are still so many things to check out:  cookbooks, parenting books, DVDs, etc.  Give the library a try this summer, it sure beats the prices on Amazon!   

2 comments:

  1. I LOVE the summer reading program at our library!! Da'Gorgeouses have been attending since they turned 2, they are now 5 and have been reading on their own for almost the last 6 months. The library staff is amazing & very helpful and I love the online feature that allows me to reserve books so I can just pick them up!

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  2. thanks for the post:) I was wanting to find out library hours and lapsit time. I am excited!

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