A Chance To ‘Read Beyond The Beaten Path’

FARMINGTON — The summer reading program at Farmington Public Library calls for story time each week, family movies, a magic show, conce r t , crafts, art classes and performances for ch i ldren , tweens, teenagers and adults.

The program kicks off June 1 and runs through June 30, with activities planned for each weekday during the month of June.

The theme for the program is “Read Beyond the Beaten Path.”

Marie Ingersoll, children’s librarian, said performances, activities and programs will explore the outdoors and participants will be encouraged to read books they’ve never read before.

Ingersoll said library staff decided to condense the program to one month this summer as a way to offer lots of activities at different times throughout the week to maximize participation. She said sometimes families do not register for the program because they don’t believe they can commit to it over the summer.

“Our idea is if we condense it, people won’t feel obligated to do it the whole summer,” Ingersoll said.

The library will have a registration celebration from 7:30-9:30 p. m., Friday, May 20. A Disney movie will be shown beginning at 8:20 p.m.

The children’s storytime will be at 10 a.m. Tuesdays in June. Other programs include teen and tween book clubs and a teen writer’s guild. Mondays are set aside for craft activities and families can drop by from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Make-it Monday.

Presentations and performances will be provided by Arkansas Game and Fish, Trike Theatre, Marty the Balloon Man, Afrique Aya, Still on the Hill and Magic Flying Debris.

Ingersoll said many of the activities are family- oriented to get adults involved. Art with Alex Cogbill on June 2 and June 16 is geared toward adults with registration required. Friday afternoons are set aside for a movie matinee. Movies will be Angry Birds, Little Prince, Onward and Muppets from Space.

Prizes will be given out throughout the month and these will include gift cards purchased by Friends of Farmington Library from local businesses. Ingersoll said the Friends’ book sale raised more than $800 and some of the proceeds will be used to purchase prizes for the summer reading program.

“We’re really excited about it,” Ingersoll said. “There’s three of us and we’ve broken it down so each of us is focusing on one area for the summer.”

For more information about the reading calendar, contact the library at 479-267-2674, email the library, library@farmpl.org, or go to the library’s website, farmpl.org.

Ingersoll