Shelf Talk 47: Summer Reading 2022

So far this year, the 2022 Oceans of Possibilities Summer Reading program has been a great hit. We are proud to offer this program each year to help preserve students’ hard-earned reading skills from being lost each summer, but more importantly, we are thankful for the support from our community to allow us to continue to serve these students. We enjoy being able to spend the summer with you! During the month of June, the program was held in person, and the libraries within the Mississippi County Library System were able to hold several events throughout the month. Each branch held a story and craft time weekly. Select branches were able to host visiting performers with a good amount of variation. Performances included Kiwi the Skateboarding Parrot, a tarantula showing by county-native Samuel Curtis, Tommy Terrific Magician, and Balloonman Productions’ Marty Boone. July programming looks a little different than the weekly events in June. For the month of July, we are doing Take and Make Kits at each branch. These kits contain most of the materials needed to create a specific craft, and the kits may vary at each branch. These can be picked up at your local branch and taken home to complete. From here there is a secret code included in your kit that you will input into the ReadSquared software to receive points for the reading program. Each Take and Make that is completed will earn you 150 points. Each branch also has missions that you can complete. Once you complete the mission, ask the attendant at the service desk for the secret code and you can log that to receive 50 points per mission. To conclude our program, we have one more exciting performer scheduled to look forward to seeing at the end of July. Runaway Puppet Theater will be at all six MCLS locations from July 27 to July 29. Dates and times are as follows: July 27- Blytheville at 10:00 am, Manila at 2:00 pm; July 28- Osceola at 10:00 am, Keiser at 2:00 pm; July 29- Leachville at 10:00 am, Wilson at 2:00 pm. Be sure to mark your calendar to attend one of these great performances! As we approach the end of the Summer Reading Program, I do want to encourage our summer readers to keep up their reading. Keep visiting the library to check out books and attend events that are scheduled throughout the year. We look forward to spending these last few weeks with you and hope to continue to see you after summer ends!