Kiddos’ Korner: Meet and Greet Special Story Hour on February 8

There will be a Kiddos’ Korner: Meet and Greet Special Story Hour at the Chickasha Public Library on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 4:30 p.m. Come join us for a special story hour and meet some of the coolest people ever, children’s book authors and illustrators.

The authors and illustrators who will be attending this event are Eileen Hobbs, Aaron Allison, Charles Martin, and Buck Berlin. Children’s author Eileen Hobbs wrote Under the Golden Rain Tree and the Heath Cousins series. There are copies of her books available to check out at the Library, and they can be found in Children Fiction under Hobbs.

Aaron Allison is a teen author whose works include I Love You Mosterous: Poems & Essays Of Love and Acceptance. Charles Martin is a manga and comic book author and illustrator. Buck Berlin is a manga and comic book illustrator and storyteller who owns New World Comics in Oklahoma City. 

“Come celebrate Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week with a fantastic event all about those special people who we all love so much because they create the books that entertain and inspire us,” says Youth Services Librarian Drew Cooper.

For more information about the Meet and Greet Special Story Hour, call the Library at 405-222-6075 or email Drew Cooper at ondreea.cooper@chickasha.org.

Summer Reading Program at the Chickasha Public Library

Join Chickasha Public Library’s annual Summer Reading Program from May 22 to July 31. Summer Reading is a program to encourage children to read over the summer, bridge the gap between school years, and develop a love of reading. Children and teens can participate by logging reading minutes, earning prizes, and enjoying summer friendship, love, and togetherness programs and activities, complementing this year’s theme, “All Together Now.” All programs will be at the Chickasha Public Library, located at 527 Iowa, Chickasha. For more information, call the Library at 405-222-6075.

Wee Ones (ages 5 and under) will complete 480 reading minutes and have weekly programs on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. for ages 0-3 and 2:00 p.m. for ages 4-5. Kiddos’ Korner (ages 6-11, although all ages are welcome) will complete 960 reading minutes and have programs on Thursdays at 2 p.m. Teen Time (ages 12-17) will complete 1080 reading minutes and have programs on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. Adults will also be able to participate in online Summer Reading challenges through Beanstack.

All participants can pre-register for the program at https://chickashapl.beanstack.com/reader365. Everyone who joins the Summer Reading Program is encouraged to participate digitally through Beanstack, either on the web or via the app. Participants can track the books they have read, log reading minutes, earn badges and prizes, and discover great books. Parents or caregivers can sign up and quickly log both their own and their children’s reading under one primary account. Participants also have the option to track their minutes using a reading log provided by the library. Reading logs can be picked up any time after May 22 at the Chickasha Public Library, located at 527 W. Iowa Ave., Chickasha.

Younger children aged 0-5 will be encouraged to participate in the Wee Ones Wednesday Storytime programs at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. This program engages young learners in fun pre-literacy activities, stories, and group play. Children aged 6-11 can participate in the Kiddos’ Korner program on Thursdays at 2 p.m. All ages are welcome to the Thursday programs, but it is recommended for ages 6-11. Kiddos’ Korner will include enhanced learning activities and hands on programming that will focus on reading. Teens aged 12-17 can participate in programs during Teen Time Tuesdays, which will be at 2 p.m. Teen Time will focus on reading as a way to encourage teens to interact with people outside of their peer group while providing informational programs that support lifelong learning needs, provide knowledge about, or inspire interest in a variety of subjects.

All youth who complete the Summer Reading challenge by reading the age-appropriate minutes will have a book of their choosing painted on the outside of the library, plus an entry into a final drawing for additional prizes. Further prizes will be awarded throughout the summer at different levels for designated minutes reached, such as a Level 1 prize for Wee Ones earned for 60 minutes completed reading. Prizes will also be awarded for community service, kindness, and program participation. Our youth community service project this summer is the Chickasha Animal Shelter. We will be taking up donations to help our local furry friends from June 1-July 31. All youth who donate supplies at the library will receive a community service badge and an additional entry into the final grand prize drawings.

“All Together Now” is a perfect slogan to bring us all together! No matter our age, socio-economic status, political affiliation, or location, we can all find a book to fit our interests and maybe make some friends in the process. Centered around kindness, friendship, unity, and community togetherness, this year’s theme comes with endless opportunities to share the library. In-person indoor and outdoor activities will be offered all summer long and monthly take-and-make crafts will be available for all ages. Program content changes weekly and take and makes will be available while supplies last.  

Research from the American Library Association indicates that summer reading helps children and teens retain and enhance their reading skills over the summer, provides a haven for community readers, and develops reading enthusiasm. Additionally, adult participation encourages caregivers to play a strong role in their child’s literacy development by reading aloud with their child and modeling good reading behavior. Kids read more and enjoy reading more when they can choose what they read. Benefits to readers include encouragement for reading to become a lifelong habit, reluctant readers can be drawn in by the activities, reading over the summer helps children keep their skills up, and the program can generate interest in the library and books. For more information about the benefits of Summer Reading, visit the American Library Association’s information about Summer Reading benefits: https://libguides.ala.org/summer-reading/benefits.

As poet and author Maya Angelou noted, “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” Chickasha Public Library joins libraries across the nation to encourage adults, youth, and families to read over the summer.

The Summer Reading Program is free and sponsored by the Chickasha Public Library, the Friends of the Chickasha Public Library, the City of Chickasha, and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.  For more information about Summer Reading, call the Chickasha Public Library at 405-222-6075 or check our website under the Youth Services tab at CPL Summer Reading Program. To sign up for Summer Reading, visit the Chickasha Public Library or sign up online on Beanstack. You can also connect with the Chickasha Public Library on Facebook and Instagram.

2018 into 2019 Past and Future Youth Programs

There were many exciting programs at the Chickasha Public Library during 2018.

Stuart Meltzer, Library Board member, and retired USAO professor, read to children during our Spring Reading Program and also during our summer Storytime with Grandpa program.

Stuart Meltzer, Library Board member, and retired USAO professor read to children during our Spring Reading Program and also during our summer Storytime with Grandpa program.

Chickasha Public Library has a special visitor every December Elf on the Shelf visits the Library to read.

Chickasha Public Library has a special visitor every December Elf on the Shelf visits the Library to read.

Annual SUMMER READING Program

There was a symphony of fun at the Library during Summer Reading 2018. If you missed all the fun this past summer, there is another chance this coming June and July! In 2018, youth from all over Grady County signed up for the Summer Reading program. Also, the YMCA brought children to participate in the program once a week. The 2018 Summer Reading program was fantastic During the program we read books that tied into our “Libraries Rock” theme and children were able to create instruments of their own. There is more to the Summer Reading program than an hour every week of fun and games; the participants also keep track of the minutes they spend reading at home. In 2018 the participants read over 104,266 minutes in June and July. Children who spend time reading over the summer have a better chance of retaining all the skills from the previous school year. Many people and organizations make the Summer Reading program possible. We would like to say thank you to the organizations that provide funding and incentives, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, the Oklahoman Newspapers in Education, Sonic America’s Drive-In, Corp, Pizza Hut, Water-Zoo Indoor Waterpark in Clinton, OK., and the Friends of the Chickasha Public Library. The Library would also like to thank performers Jammin’ Randy and Magical Michael, all of our volunteers, and the participants for making this year’s Summer Reading program one of the best yet.

Mark your calendars because May 30th will be the Library’s all-day Summer Reading sign-up day. On June 6th, we will blast off to explore a “Universe of Stories” during the 2019 Summer Reading Program. More details to come as May gets closer.

Mad Hatter & White Rabbit Books Come Alive 2018

Mad Hatter & White Rabbit  of Books Come Alive 2018

BOOKS COME ALIVE

Over eighty people attended our second annual Books Come Alive and Local Authors Festival event. Local volunteers chose some fantastic books, and some great characters wandered the stacks. Count Olaf attempted to keep his group of orphans in line, while Max and the Wild Things had roaring contests with all the kids, and a creepy woods took over the adult stacks, where participants witnessed a scene from the Watchers. Tune in next fall to see all the places we will go.  

Count Olaf visits the Library during Books Come Alive 2018

Count Olaf of Books Come Alive 2018

Professor Trelawney Books visits the Library during Come Alive 2018

Professor Trelawney of Books Come Alive 2018

Some NEW Youth Programs for 2019 are:

Join us for our Baby and You Storytime on Thursday MorningsBaby & You Storytime is every Thursday morning during the school year from 9:30 am – 10:30 am.

The program doesn’t begin until 9:45 and lasts 15 – 20 minutes, which leaves plenty of time for you to read, play with your baby, and talk with other parents.

This program is for babies ages 0-18 months and their caregivers.

For more information, email Courtney, Youth Services Librarian at courtney.mayall@chickasha.org, or contact us on Facebook.

beyond the shelf youth Library club for tweens.Beyond the Shelf Youth Library Club is a weekly program on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 for youth ages 10 – 15.

The activities during this program will vary. Scifi-Monster Mania is the theme for February.

There will be a board game demo of King of Tokyo. Who will be the last monster standing? There will also be crafts and plenty of monster book discussions.

The last Wednesday of the month, we will show a film MST3K style.

For more information, email Courtney, Youth Services Librarian at courtney.mayall@chickasha.org or contact us on Facebook.