Story originally printed in the Onalaska Life or online at www.onalaskalife.com
Published - Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Area library branches ready to ‘Go Global’ this summer
The La Crosse County Library System’s summer reading program will have an international flavor this year, with a wide variety of special programs that go along with the theme: “Go Global: Read.”
The travel theme works well for encouraging young people to keep up their reading over the summer, said county library youth services director Karen Kroll, because books actually do have a way of transporting people. The aim, she said, is to get across a message: “Reading’s a passport to adventure and learning for the rest of your lives.”
 La Crosse County Library System youth librarians, including Carol Knapmiller, center, have taken county library mascot Library Dog on the road to promote this year's summer reading program at area schools, including Holmen Middle School, above. Photo by Randy Erickson |
As with past summer reading programs, this year’s offers incentives for kids to read. For every book they read and write down in their “passport,” kids through eighth-grade get “frequent flyer tokens” that they can trade for prizes at the end of the program. Those in grades 7-12 can participate in the teen reading raffle, with participants getting a raffle entry for every book they read.
The summer reading program also offers activities for young readers from preschool through grade 12. For kids in first grade and younger, storytimes will be offered during two three-week sessions (June 9-17 and July 7-25).
For those in grades 2-4, hour-long Lunch Bunch and Snack Pack sessions that meet Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are planned. For these sessions, which require preregistration, kids can bring a lunch or snack and take part in games and crafts as well as listen to a chapter a day from the session’s special book.
Older kids, those in grades 5-8, can join the World Wide Wings Library Club, which offers fun in the form of games and movies as well as the chance to plan a couple parties — including two “Worldwide Monday Funday” events for all ages — and get a first look a new library books.
For the older crowd (grades 7-12), three Summer Teen Nights are planned (July 10, 17 and 24), with pizza and a movie. Although all three teen nights will be at the Onalaska Public Library, participation is open to all county teens, and Kroll said teens have come from all over for teen nights in the past.
One nice thing, Kroll noted, is participants can nominate movies for the teen night by calling their local library or e-mailing yslibrarianscountylibrary@hotmail.com.
As in past years, the library system’s summer program will include special guests offering entertainment and education in the Main Event series. In keeping with the youth reading program theme, the five Main Events will touch on a variety of aspects of global culture.
The series kicks off June 11 with Rick Ponzio and “Folk Tales From Around the World.” The next week, “edutainer” Bill Kehl will offer “Earth, Music ... Magic!,” featuring primitive instruments, the natural world, humor, singalongs and other interactive fun.
Ballet Folklorico de los Hermanos Avila will take audiences on a tour of Mexico’s regional dances when it visits all five country libraries on July 1-2. “That’s usually something you have to pay money to see and go to a big venue,” Kroll said.
People can get a taste of Taiwan when Jimmy Chen and Emily Bjerke-Kroll (Kroll’s daughter) present “Welcome to Taiwan” on July 9. Both Chen and Bjerke-Kroll are teachers in Taiwan.
The Main Event series wraps up with Jahmes Finlayson’s “Heartbeats!” program, with offers African and Caribbean music and stories incorporating a lot of audience participation.
Finlayson has visited the county libraries twice before and Kroll said he puts on an amazing show. “It’s just really moving to me what he does with these kids,” Kroll said. “Everybody’s unified for that little moment in time. He’s very much the artist, creating this experience. I don’t know how he does it. He creates this feeling without it feeling schmaltzy or goofy.”
Brochures with times and locations of special events and full details on all aspects of the summer reading program are available at the library branches in Bangor, Campbell, Holmen, Onalaska and West Salem as well as online at www.lacrossecountylibrary.com.
All stories copyright 2006 Onalaska Life and other attributed sources.