Summer Reading Has Started at the Calhoun County Library!

            Summer Reading has officially started at the Calhoun County Library and the programs have been great so far. Please join us each Thursday at 10:30am as we are “All Together Now” learning new things each week.

The Summer Reading Program Kickoff took place Thursday, June 8 and it was a blast - literally!! We got to play in foam that was blasted out of a foam cannon!  Foam n Fun visited the library and created a field of foam in front of the courthouse. It was such a fun experience for all ages, kids and kids at heart.  Everyone can relate to playing with the foam in a bubble bath, but this was like a giant bubble bath without the water. After all, the best part of a bubble bath is the bubbles! It was a new experience for most participants who said they’d never seen anything like it. Curious onlookers even came over to see what it was all about!  Who knew playing in foam could be so much fun? To top off our bubble playground experience,  Randolph’s Italian Ice was  there giving away free Italian Ice to help everyone stay cool. There were games for all ages, bubbles to chase and pop, water guns for the babies, and funky music for a dance party. Kids used sidewalk chalk to create a masterpiece on the paved area to represent our theme this summer, “All Together Now.” It really was a kickoff to remember.

Following an amazing kickoff, the Columbia Marionette Theatre visited on Thursday, June 15. Everyone loves puppets, and these puppets were a little different from hand puppets.  Marionettes are puppets that are manipulated with strings and controlled with or without the puppeteer being visible. Unless you’ve visited the Columbia Marionette Theatre in Columbia, you may not have ever seen a marionette show. Puppets came to life as the puppeteers pulled and tugged at strings to create movements and gestures for each puppet. Kids and adults were mesmerized by the movements as they watched puppets walk across the stage, jump down into the audience, and even get down on one knee to sing a song. The puppets shared the story of the Three Little Pigs, but they put their own spin on the legendary tale. As the puppeteers told the audience that every story can have a different ending, we quickly realized that this story would not end up with the wolf eating the little pigs. Not only was the show entertaining, but it also reinforced a wonderful life lesson.

Don’t miss next week when Yasu Ishida, a Japanese storyteller, magician, and origami artist, will amaze us by combining traditional Japanese theater, music, origami, magic, and storytelling at 10:30 on June 29. Come on and have some fun with us!

Our Summer Reading Program is completely free and everyone is invited to attend the programs. While you’re here, we can get you signed up for summer reading. For every 60 minutes you read, you get a prize and your name goes into a drawing for grand prizes such as new bikes and Kindles to be given away at the end of summer!

This project is made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the South Carolina State Library. Thank you to Save the Children for also donating giveaway books!