Gravette Library reading program includes reading and STEAM

GRAVETTE -- The Gravette Public Library will begin its children's summer reading program Tuesday, July 10, with Dan Skoff, chief meteorologist of KNWA, giving a presentation on weather.

The library will hold programs at the library each Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. for five weeks, beginning July 10. Each program will offer presentations and activities. Snacks will be provided.

Skoff will exhibit a tornado machine and talk to the children about weather preparedness. Local engineer Doug Holm will share how magnets are used in everyday items on July 17; Tabitha Crawley, a GHS student and 4-H member, will talk about insects and present her Madagascar cockroach collection on July 24; the FIRST Robotics Club will give a demonstration on July 31; and Katherine Auld will talk about fossils on August 7. Weekly activities will include weather and magnet experiments, making slime, completing an Ozobot course and rock painting.

Each child who registers for the program receives a summer activity bag which includes, among other things, a reading log that, when completed, represents five hours of reading. Every child who completes the reading log will receive a book to keep with six titles to choose from, as well as a ticket for an end-of-summer prize raffle. The first 45 children who submit completed reading logs will receive a coupon for two tickets to an Arkansas Naturals baseball game.

Each child will choose one of four brag tag designs to be worn on a chain. For every 10 minutes they read, they'll earn a bead to add to the chain. As they accumulate beads, they can trade up to glittery beads, star beads and glow-in-the-dark beads.

Summer reading bingo is offered for teens and adults. Bingo sheets are available at the library's circulation desk. Participants who complete a bingo will be awarded tickets for an end-of-summer prize raffle.

Libraries Rock! is this year's reading program theme. "While attending a training program at the Amazeum last fall, library workers offered their interpretations of the theme," said Karen Benson, library supervisor. "Some thought it referenced music and some geology. Me? I interpreted it as 'Libraries Totally Rock!' because many libraries now offer STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) programs and Maker Space in addition to books, e-books and DVDs."

Community on 07/04/2018