Ironton Back to School Fair

What a great time Miss Pat and I had at today's Back to School Fair at Ironton!  Over the course of about four hours, we registered 47 new library cards!  Check out a sampling of pictures below!

We had a selection of giveaway books for participating families.

The event brought in a steady stream of activity.

Miss Pat and Miss Shaen getting ready for the next round of kiddos!

Registering patrons for new library cards.

Registering patrons for new library cards.

Keep reading!

Shaen

Back to School Fair TODAY!

After lots of prep work this week, we're ready for the Ironton Back-to-School Fair!  The Fair will be at First Baptist Church of Ironton and run from 10-2:30 pm today.  Stop by and see Miss Pat and me- we'll be signing families up for new library cards, handing out giveaway books, and passing out goody bags to the kids!

A view of the library conference room yesterday.  We now have 150 goody bags ready to go!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Playing Catch-Up (AKA Most Rambling Blog Post Ever)

Summer has just started, and already, things are busy, busy, busy at the library!  Pat and I have both been out on the road with programming this week, so we're just now getting a chance to download some photos from the last week's events.  We'll just call this post a three-in-one special :)

Reach for the Stars Kickoff
Our first event for the summer, the Reach for the Stars Kickoff, happened on Monday and was a success with seventeen participants attending.  Usborne Books & More rep, Connie Fain, explained how the pledge-based reading club was going to work, and Pat Lewis handed out reading logs and program information to those who were interested.  The Reach for the Stars Reading Club will be open to readers from now until Monday, June 16, when reading logs and pledge sheets are due, and the Club will culminate in a gigantic Book Fair at the Ironton Library on Friday, June 27, where kids can choose prize books and help the Library pick out new books for our Youth collection.  You don't have to be from Iron County to participate; anyone with questions about the program can contact the Ironton Library for more information.

Reach for the Stars Reading Logs.  Thanks to The Mountain Echo and Cole's Funeral Home for being sponsoring businesses this summer!

The Library set up thematic book displays so the kids could check out and get reading right away!

Local Usborne rep, Connie Fain, explaining the details of the RFTS Reading Club for our patrons.

Opening Party (Look Like a Mad Scientist)
Our Opening Party took place at four branches (Steelville, Bourbon, Ironton, and Fredericktown) on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the kids made "mad scientist" costume kits to get ready for our science-based Summer Reading Program.  We had three stations set up: an Einstein wig table, a lab goggles table, and a lab coat table.  You can see the evidence of their creative crafting below!

Attendees of the Opening Party rotated between three different craft stations: Make a Lab Coat, Make Lab Goggles, and Make Einstein Hair.

Cutting out lab coats from plastic bags.

Decorating lab coats with stickers (it might not be the most scientific thing, but we had fun!).

A few patrons got creative: meet the double threat- a scientist athlete!

We also made cotton ball wigs and cardstock safety goggles.

We got a little creative with the wigs, too!

Almost finished!

We had great crowds at Crawford County...

And Fredericktown, too.

Some super scientists.

More mad scientists!

What a group!

Grow a Reader
This morning, despite a few raindrops, we held our second annual Grow a Reader story time at the Iron County Community Garden.  Linda Lane of the Community Garden gave an intro and reminded everyone about the upcoming Garden Tour, Pat and I read garden-themed stories and helped the kids make paper Mr. or Ms. Potato Heads, and Debra Henk of the University of Missouri Extension Council showed the kids how to plant potatoes in the Garden and send each child home with their own purple bush bean plant.  Much thanks also goes to Rev. Catherine (Kitty) Hillquist, who graciously invited us to use the parish porch for our crafting session, as well as provided refreshments for all the families in attendance.

A nice crowd showed up, despite the threat of rain!

Reading garden-themed stories: Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie DePaola and this one, White is for Blueberry by George Shannon and Laura Dronzek.

We played "Hot Potato" for our game.

The group gets whittled down during our game.

Down to two players!  Who will win...?

And we have a new "Hot Potato" champion!

We moved onto the covered parish porch to color and cut our Mr. and Ms. Potato Heads.

Lots of coloring and cutting for this craft!

Then we enjoyed light refreshments and headed out to the Garden to get a tour of the planting beds and to plant some potatoes of our own, to be harvested later for the local Food Bank.

The kids (and parents) hard at work in the Garden.

Also, on a sidenote, if you'd like to see a few photos from the Last Tuesday Creative Writing Event, head on over to the Ironton Facebook page.  There's talk of putting together a teen and/or adult workshopping group in the near future, so if you're interested in joining either group, please send us a message through our Facebook page with your name, age group (teen or adult), and if possible, the best weeknight evening, Monday through Friday, that you would find it most convenient to attend classes.  With enough interest, we'll be putting together a schedule soon!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Creative Writing Class at Ironton Headquarters

Join me tomorrow for a free Creative Writing class at Ozark Regional Library's Last Tuesday event!  We'll meet in the Ironton Headquarter's Conference Room on Tuesday, May 27, from 6-7 pm to discuss the novel-writing process and provide an opportunity to write and workshop story beginnings!  The event is geared toward adults, but teens are welcome to attend, too.  Call or visit the library to reserve your place.

Keep reading!

Shaen

Ironton Open House Summer Prize Pack Winner!

Congratulations to Brianne Cooper, the winner of our Summer Prize Pack at the Ironton Headquarter's Open House held last week.  For correctly guessing the number of pompoms in our guessing jar, Brianne earned a new tote bag emblazoned with the updated ORL logo and stuffed to the brim with tons of goodies, including magnetic bookmarks, giant bubble wands, beach balls, a prize book, and more!

Brianne with her Summer Prize Pack!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Valentine's Program Photos

Yesterday's Valentine's program at the Ironton Headquarters was tons of fun!  Participants sampled heart-healthy snacks (plus a few sweet conversation heart candies... it IS Valentine's, after all!) and crafted sweet gifts to give to family and friends, including scented bath salts, handmade cards, and Valentine's fridge magnets.  Thanks to photographer, Susan Kline, for the wonderful photos, Naomi and Harley Allen (plus baby Xander!) for the bath salts station, and Melissa Miles McCarter for the handmade cards station (and for sparking the whole collaboration!).

Keep reading!

Shaen

A Sweet Valentine's Program at Ozark Regional Library!

Get ready for Valentine's Day with our upcoming afterschool program, perfect for all the little sweeties in your family!  The program will be held in partnership with the Chamber and several other community organizations at the Ironton Public Library on Thursday, February 13, at 3:30 pm in the conference room.  We'll get geared up for the holiday with a heart-warming story, cute crafts, food, and lots of fun!  This program is great for families to attend together, and is open to all age ranges.  Hope to see you there!

Keep reading!

Shaen

Christmas in the Valley Story Time

Thanks to Miss Michelle and a whole host of enthusiastic kiddos and families, our Christmas in the Valley story time this past weekend was a huge success, with nearly fifty participants attending!  Check out the photos below as proof of all the merriment (plus get a peek at the festively-decorated Youth Area at Ironton!):

 

 

 

Keep reading!

Shaen