Summer reading in full swing

“Look What’s Cookin’ at Your Library!” If you haven’t been to the library and the junior room in particular, stop in and see what we have cooking for you and your children this summer. Summer reading is in full swing, but it isn’t too late to join the fun. Pick up a summer reading bag in the junior room of the library and get your schedule of events.
Stories in the Park continue on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. at the east end of Smokey Bear Park. Join us for about 30 minutes of stories, games, music and general silliness. Concerts in the Park follow at 7 in the bandshell.
Join us Thursdays at 1 p.m. in the basement meeting room of the library for a fun school age program. Today, June 26, we’ll have a “Recipe for Disaster” and explore building, quicksand, tornadoes and more. Thursday, July 3, will be a craft program called “Playing with Your Food.” Thursday, July 10, the library will meet in the junior room for our annual scavenger hunts. Thursday, July 17, we’ll celebrate Minnesota’s past and July 24 we’ll celebrate Minnesota. We’ll finish up July with our annual summer reading Olympics on Thursday, July 31. All programs are geared for youth ages 6 and up. Younger children are welcome to attend but may need adult help.
We still need about 50 signatures on our birthday card to Minnesota. So, if you haven’t signed our birthday card to help Minnesota celebrate its sesquicentennial, then be sure to sign it soon. We are still looking for pictures for our local alphabet book. So, if you know of places in our around International Falls that begin with “Q”, “V”, “X”, “Z” or even some of the more ordinary letters, then please draw or take a picture and bring it in to place in our alphabet book.
Teen summer reading is also underway. “Plug into Your Library” is a chance for teens to win certificates from local businesses or books. For each book read, teens fill out a bookmark with the book name, author, whether they liked the book or not, and their own name and phone number. One drawing for prizes will be held in late August. So just keep on reading and get all your bookmarks turned in by Friday, Aug. 22.
Tuesday, July 1 from 6 to 8 p.m., the library will host the first of many game nights for teens. The library has purchased a variety of electronic games and will make them available for teens to come in and play. Meet us in the basement library room for Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution and more. (We have purchased a Wii, but it is backordered and will not be available by July 1.) The games were purchased as part of the donation we received 18 months ago. Among the allowable uses for the donation, was the request to make the library an attractive place for teens to hang out.