Community Notes: Dragons are coming to the library!

By Annette Dean, Director, Charles City Public Library

This spring we are getting geared up for the summer library program. We will have events lined up for kids, teens and adults!

Summer gets kicked off with our summer kickoff on May 31st. The library will have special guests from the National Mississippi River Museum’s stingray exhibit. Come to sign up for the great events we are hosting and enjoy the stingray touch tank and related activities.

Then read your pants off to earn Reading Dragon Cards. We are continuing our program Reading Dragons and Friends, where children of all ages are encouraged to read to earn dragon, griffon, or unicorn cards.

The cards are all different and can be used to play games. Every week participants can earn dragon cards, stickers to place on our dragon display, and tickets for our grand prizes.

Kids and families can also look forward to NERF nights, a dragon lair garden program, dragon cake decorating, and our Wonderful Wednesday programs including Wartburg’s Lizard Guy, a Touch a Truck event, Butler County Naturalist Annette Wittrock, and an Absolute Science Foam Party.

We will again be partnering with Iowa State University Extension to offer a day camp. We will be hosting several teen events including a Teen Iron Chef program, Dragon Eye Sculpture Craft, and a Fear Factor Challenge program!

We will finish off our summer library program with a pool party for all who reach their reading goals. Other reading prizes for kids and teens are pool floaties, a LEGO set, a popcorn/movie party, and a 3D printed dragon. Registration will begin May 27th.

We always have a lot of fun planning and executing programs in the summer months, but regularly scheduled public programming is offered in person to children and adults year-round.

We have several book clubs, including Cookbook Club and STEAM Book Club, Diamond Art Night, Craft Nights, Get Messy, Scrabble Club, Board Game Nights, Tech Time and Storytimes for our regular scheduled programs.

Special programs, like our adult and kid Dungeons and Dragons adventures, can be found on our website or Facebook page. Please check out our calendar at  www.charles-city.lib.ia.us/about/plans, sign up for our newsletter at www.charles-city.lib.ia.us/library-news/library-newsletter, and follow our Facebook page for up-to-date notifications about our programs.

As always, we are the spot to get movies, books, magazines and newspapers. Checkout the storywalk along the river, as featured stories are changed regularly. We also have a growing Library of Things collection that includes hotspots, computers, board games, launchpad tablets, camp tables, projectors, yard games, DVD players, and art supply kits.

Check out our website for our digital collection or stop in today to see all the recent additions.

• BRIDGES: Access downloadable eBooks, audiobooks, movies and magazines.

• Hoopla: Access downloadable eBooks, audiobooks, movies, tv episodes, and music. Paid for by the Library Foundation.

• Kanopy: Stream movies and TV shows.

• Ancestry Library Edition: Search your family history.

• Brainfuse Job Now and Vet Now: Search for jobs, veteran benefits, create resumes and get feedback from a professional all in one place. Provided by the State Library of Iowa.

• Brainfuse HelpNow: Online Tutoring and Homework Help provided by the State Library of Iowa.