Library Column for June 14, 2024

@ Your Library

Summer reading is in full swing with lots of programs next week. Every week we have Libratory on Wednesday at 11am (except June 19th when we will be closed for Juneteenth), storytime at 10:30 am on Thursday and Fridays from 10:30 – noon is Big Play. Next week we also have two outside performer programs, both on Tuesday, June 18th. Library programs are a great way to keep kids involved and using their brains this summer. We’d love to have you join us whenever you are around.

Kids under the age of 10 are encouraged to join us on Tuesday, June 18th at 10 am for Traveling Lantern Theater Company’s production of ‘The Quest for the Kakapo!’ This traveling troupe from Oregon visited last year and we had a delightful hour watching their performance. When they said they were coming back to Minnesota we jumped at the chance to bring them back.

Teens and adults are welcome to join us at 2pm on Tuesday, June 18th for a lively discussion with three Minnesota Book Award authors. Staci Drouillard has written a memoir in Seven Aunts. John Rosengren has written about the culture of hockey in Bloomington with Blades of Glory and John Kero has written about ‘reclaiming Minnesota’s mined lands’ in Minescapes. All three authors will be here engaging in a lively discussion with us about the impact of literature in their lives, their connection as fellow Minnesotans, and the lens through which we read. Moving Words is an opportunity for writers and readers to explore these themes together. Moving Words is a program of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library as the Library of Congress-designated Minnesota Center for the Book. This program is made possible in part by the State of Minnesota through an appropriation to the Minnesota Department of Education and the generous support of Bernadette and Jeffrey Janisch. This free program is open to all teens and adults, writers especially encouraged to join us. Refreshments provided.

Reading is also an important part of summer. Regularly reading helps keep the brain engaged and active, preventing the summer slide of losing knowledge gained during the school year. See library staff for more information about how the entire family can earn up to eight free books this summer by reading and participating in library programs. Set aside a few minutes each day when everyone in the family reads (or listens to someone read.) I shared with many of the students I talked to this spring that listening to books be read counts as reading. Grab an audiobook and listen to someone read to you. Audiobooks come in many forms these days including CDs, Playaways, Wonderbooks and digital downloads. Discover your favorite way to listen to books.

The Library will be closed on Wednesday, June 19th in observance of Juneteenth. Regular summer hours will be held the remainder of the week. Summer hours are Monday – Wednesday 10 am – 8 pm and Thursday – Friday 10 am – 6 pm.

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