Click here to receive The Learning Curve in your inbox once a month. You can opt-out at any time. I am a library girl. My love for libraries stems from great childhood memories, especially at the Chatham library in both the original and new locations. Now our library visits are less for me and more for my kids. Today’s visit filled our bag mostly with nonfiction: cooking books for Liam and military vehicle books for Patrick.
I love the library for many reasons.
- Libraries are the great equalizer. Today on our trip to the library I spoke to a man living in the local homeless shelter who loves Pat Sajak from “Wheel of Fortune.” (I know this because he told me so during our brief conversation in the stacks.) One row over, I ran into my college professor for both Modern and Restoration Literature. The library is literally for everyone.
- Libraries are free. Well, they are mostly free. For $1.40 in late fees in a year, you can check out books, audiobooks, DVDs, and local museum passes. You can have access to ebooks, computers, and genealogy classes. I get the same good feeling when I leave the library as I do when I make a Target run. The difference is that I didn’t have to spend $84 to feel this way.
- Libraries have books. This might be obvious, but just like the theme song told us from the Reading Rainbow “Take a look. It’s in a book….I can go anywhere!” New worlds, characters, and adventures await when you open a book.
We go to various libraries and Liam has several names for them. The Danville main branch library is the “green library”; the Westover Branch library is the “small library,” while the Chatham branch of the Pittsylvania County Library is just known as “Mrs. Angie’s house.” He loves the children’s librarian there so much that he thinks she lives there amongst all the books she loves.
Recently on a trip to Sam’s Club, as we took a shortcut through the book aisle to the check-out, a book caught Patrick’s eye. He asked if he could “check it out.” He seemed genuinely perplexed that you couldn’t just check-out and return books anywhere they are on display.
Enrolling in a summer reading program is easy. We double dip in both the city we live in and in the adjoining county.
If you are local, here is the information that you need to get started with a library summer reading program.
Pittsylvania County
This year’s theme is Read by Design and registration begins May 30. Each branch will have their own schedule of programs. Use this link to find the phone number, hours of operation, and schedule of events for each branch.
At Liam’s request, we will be making the 25 minute drive to Mrs. Angie’s house for her programs as much as possible. The Chatham branch kick-off is June 7 at Chatham Baptist Church at 10am. Starting June 13, Mrs. Angie has story time, crafts, and snacks planned each Tuesday for ages 0-5 at 10am and ages 6-11 at 3pm. For all ages, she also has Monday movie matinees at 2pm and Lego building on Fridays at 10am.
Also, if you have never taken your child to the bookmobile…do it! Here is the Bookmobile Schedule for 2017. If you live in Pittsylvania County, they will be rolling to a spot near you soon!
Danville
The Danville summer reading program theme is “Summer Reading is Big Fun.” For full program information use the library website. Programs run each Thursday night from June 5 – June 24 from 5:30-6:30 and include visits from the STEM mobile lab, a dig for dinosaur bones, and a magic show. When registering in person, you will receive a bag of goodies with full program details.
Happy Reading!
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