Library – Mom on the go in Holy Toledo

It is officially day 1 of summer break! Bring on the long days at the pool, meeting up with friends at the park, roasting marshmallows & making s’mores, catching fireflies, watching fireworks, lazy days at the lake, and so much more. Eeee!! Parents we have the POWER to make it a SUPER FUN summer!! But let’s be honest, WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY. It is important that parents take the necessary precautions so that their children don’t fall prey to VILLIANS such as ticks, sunburns, dehydrations, and brain drain!!

Did you know…

The statistics on summer “brain drain” are grim. According to Dr. Harris Cooper, professor of psychology at the University of Missouri- Columbia, students returning to school after a lengthy summer break will have lost one to three months’ worth of learning. Studies show that on average, teachers end up spending four to six weeks re-teaching things their students learned during the previous school year. That means that if students come back to school on August 1, they will spend all their time until September, at the earliest, reviewing. They might be reviewing until Halloween comes around.

https://www.sciencenaturally.com/files/1.Summer.Brain_.Drain_.June_.2013.pdf

Don’t let your child fall into the hands of the evil VILLIAN, brain drain. Be their SUPERHERO; DEFEND them against brain drain by signing them up for the SUMMER READING CHALLENGE today!

Books to the RESCUE!! But that’s not all! This year’s Summer Reading Program is the best one yet! It will have your little one contemplating awesome SUPERHERO POWERS, writing a note to their favorite SUPERHERO, reading aloud with a friend; allow their imaginations to soar and loss track of both time & space in a book, and so much more! Click here to learn more about the Kids Program.

This year’s program comes with an awesome activity book filled with coloring options, crossword, word search, etc. perfect boredom buster!!

The Library also has fun FREE activities going on throughout the summer that coincide with this year’s Summer reading program theme….click here for summer events guide.

And I almost forgot the best part, PRIZES!! Your SUPERHERO will win prizes with each challenge they complete!! Including, Chipotle coupon, finger puppet, pick from the treasure box, stickers, etc.

GRAND Prizes…once your SUPERHERO completes Challenges 1-4 they are entered in the grand prize giveaway to win one of the following….

An iPad Air or Kindle Fire HDX

A 4-pack of tickets or a membership to The Toledo Zoo or Imagination Station

A $30 gift card for Barnes & Noble, Toys R Us or the Toledo Mud Hens

*Scouts can earn a badge if they complete challenges 1-4

The best part, the SUMMER READING CHALLENGE is open to Teens & Adults too!! And yes, you could also win prizes!!

So what are you waiting for? Use your SUPERHERO POWERS and ZOOM on over to your local library & accept the CHALLENGE TODAY!!!

From a young age I remember going to the library on a weekly basis to get new and exciting library books, Videos, cassette tapes, and of course, the piece de la resistance, story time! I would become elated with joy when the librarian would walk in with 3 books tucked under her arm and smile big and say good morning boys and girls. A huge grin would appear on my face when she said okay; it is time for our first story. I would look at my mom for that nod that said its okay; you can sit closer to see the pictures. Once I received that confirmation nod I would rush up front and intensely listen to the words while carefully reviewing each illustration. I so enjoyed story time and I was always happy to see the story time librarian, to me she was like a local celebrity. In fact when she would approach me I found it difficult to talk, like she was some famous rock star are something. Well, I have grown but my love for adventures found in books has remain and since I now have chidlren of my own I enjoy sharing the expereince with them.

I think it is actually more exciting from my perspective, as a parent. Sure I enjoyed the library and story time when I was young but there is something to be said about witnessing your own little blessings finding so much joy in the exploration of learning. Like when my son becomes overjoyed with a book about his favorite superhero, or when our toddler claps uncontrollably during the first verse of the Itsy Bitsy Spider during story time, or better yet, our eldest daughter just learned how to read the easy reader series of books and the proud smile she bares when she completes a book on her own melts this mama’s heart. And the day when our kindergartener and preschooler received their library card was right up there with the other many milestones in their young lives (they each received their library card at age 3, so our youngest isn’t quite there. This was our choice as parents; we factored in a lesson about responsibility).

Our library, Sanger branch library has a really cool children’s reading area “A Walk in the Park” which contains larger than life scenes from the author Denise Flemings books. The children really enjoy the space; there are intricate details that capture their little eyes such as a mouse cutout in the gate and lightning bugs that actually flicker. Parents like the fact that the space comes fully equimpt with a gate and all; moms can open and shut the gate as they please thus keeping little crawlers and new walkers within eye site.

Our kiddos have grown accustom to our library routine and the librarian who does story time. And just as the story time library was like a celebrity to me when I was a child our children’s librarian has very much become a celebrity in their lives too. Our preschooler becomes so shy around her while our toddler runs up to her with pure elation, like a teenage who just met Justin Bieber. Ms. Kristin, the children’s story time librarian at Sanger branch library is definitely a local celebrity in our household. After all she is one of the few adults they have seen in their lives on a regular basis besides family. The kiddos each started off attending baby story time and now our eldest is in kindergarten and our youngest just attended her last baby story time (time to graduate to toddler story time…pass a tissue please) so she has definitely been a constant in their lives. So it was sad to hear that this past baby story time series would be her last at Sanger branch library.

We will miss seeing her on a weekly basis at our library but the good news is she hasn’t gone far. She is now at the downtown main branch library which means we just got another reason to visit, besides the awesome kids’ library that includes computer and play area, fish aquarium, car, Dr. Seuss’ Cat-in-the-Hat figurine, and more.

So, we wish you the best of luck and fun at your new library Ms. Kristin and we look forward to visiting you very soon.

Does your child have a local celebrity? Maybe it is the cashier at the grocery store, the mail carrier (ours is more like our dogs favorite local celebrity, she always has treats for our dog), care provider during the day, etc.?