Music, STEM, storytimes have kept area libraries hopping

Megan Barrett of Madison County Music Company in Winterset, armed with her ukulele, brought smiles to the young and young at heart during a Wednesday morning sing along held as part of the Greenfield Public Library’s regular story time program recently.

This was just one of the many activities the library held throughout the summer for children of all ages. The summer programming recently hit a break, and the library will begin them again in August with the school year in sight.

“This was a wonderful group of kids and adults at the library. They seemed to be engaged with the music and having fun,” Barrett said in an email after the event. “First and foremost, [these gigs] are to expose kids to quality music that they can also sing and enjoy. There are some additional language benefits like exploring rhyming words and letter sounds that are also great for pre-readers and early readers. The most enjoyable part of these is seeing the joy and excitement in kids. When the kids start singing along, it makes my heart happy.”

Greenfield library’s Danica Clayton, who organized the summer reading program this year for the second time, said that it was a successful summer.

“We had a variety of people come. I everyone’s been pretty happy so far. We’ve seen a lot of smiles, so that’s good,” Clayton said. “It’s hard because we’re a smaller library, but we wanted make sure there’s opportunities for different age groups. Kids love crafts, so we made sure that was involved. It was also really nice to collaborate with Adair County Conservation and Extension. They’re doing awesome work.”

In Fontanelle, the library hosted one more sizeable event Tuesday, when Jonathan May Magic visited for a show.

“He got here extra early last time and he came in, pulled kids aside and showed them magic, and that was before everybody else even got here,” said library director Melissa Menefee. “He did card tricks, a trick involving a chain, and did a really good job of calling on the kids and including them in the show.”

At another recent Fontanelle storytime event, kids were able to play outside with bubbles, and some painted their handprints on a post outside the library. “Stomp, Chomp, ROAR” also came and gave a dinosaur-themed show for the kids in June.

Many area libraries have been incorporating STEM into their activities lately, and at the Orient Community Library, staff were happy their library was chosen as a recipient of a free STEM learning cart from the Henry’s Heros program through the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation and Iowa Select Farms.

Henry’s Heros was inspired by Henry Johnson, Jeff and Deb’s grandchild. Each year on his birthday, Henry’s mom Natalie selects a new project to support children’s resources in Iowa communities.

“They realize that small town Iowa libraries play an important role in impacting the growth of the young generations and are pleased to give to a rural community like ours. Libraries are nominated by Iowa Select Farms employees and contractors to empower kids to be future innovators, creators and leaders,” said Orient library director Julia Frederick. “Jamie Kralik, who runs one of the Iowa Select Farms and is from the Orient community, nominated the Orient Community Library. The staff of the Orient Community Library is so grateful to Jamie for her consideration. This STEM cart will allow kids to develop their science, technology, engineering, and math skills through their visit to the library.

Area libraries are eager to get the school year going and to offer more activities for youth and adults at that time.