To find dominate beauty in literature is part of the creed I live by, and one of the ways I'm able to keep a constant rotation of books is by going to my local library. The best thing about a library card is that all of the resources they have are free or very low cost, and as a 1 income family I am always looking for fun activities for me and my kids.
This is at the opening event for the summer reading program 2022.
For the longest time I never knew of all the resources a library has until I became submerged in mine. Keep in mind every library does offer different things, but also that my library is in a small town of 5,000 and still has so much to offer. Here are some of my favorite things to do at or with my library that are beyond the typical book checkout.
Dolly Parton Imagination Library program for kids under 5:
Mrs. Dollys program is absolutely amazing, she has partnered with library's all across the country in efforts to provide all children quality books to add to their personal library. Every month we get a new book via mail from Dolly herself, my daughter looks forward to her book every time she sees mail being delivered she asks if she's got a new book. You can see if your local library has partnered with this program as well at here.
This is when the local animal shelter gave a presentation about adopting from shelters in summer 2021.
Summer reading program:
This is the best way to ensure you have weekly social activities for your child during the summer. We've registered for our summer program 3 years now, even in the midst of COVID and this is seriously so fun. It includes weekly crafts, prizes, and presentations from Wildlife officers, firefighters, animal rescue, etc. They also have competitions geared to different age groups and there has always been an artistic competition, I wish my mom would've sent me to something like this as a kid every summer. And the best part is your kid gets to do all of the crafts for free, just has to register and attend the day of event.
This is painting a dinosaur planter after the reading of "Ice cream and dinosaurs" by Eric Litwin during preschool story-time.
Monthly activities:
My library hosts multiple reoccurring events throughout the month for all ages and we participate in several of them at no cost. They have crocheting every week, I have attended several lessons and have learned a new skill with the help of others. Adventurescapes, which is geared for kids k-6, and they have so much fun during this monthly meeting doing cool science experiments and take home science experiments to do on their own. Painting classes, this is one of the few reoccurring events my library has that you actually have to pay for, they have a local artist come in an she teaches a step by step class on painting different subjects, this has been such a fun activity to attend. And they occasionally have other events or classes teaching how to do other cool crafts or lifeskills.
Job Fairs:
I always recommend the job fairs that my local library puts on for anyone job seeking, not only do they help you build a resume, but in my experience they will help you network with the company you best fit with when hosting the job fair.
DVDs:
Our library has a massive DVD collection since they are intertwined with 5 other library's and so the selection is always rotated, allowing our daughter to watch the classics that are hard to find on modern streaming services.
1,000 books before kindergarten:
For every 100 books my kid has read to her she not only get her picture and name in the newspaper but also receives a high quality book, and when we reach 1,000 she will get a t-shirt that says she has read 1,000 books. I have cut out every time she has made the newspaper and this is such a fun activity to do with her.
Do it yourself teddy bear kits from Noah's Ark workshop:
3 times now my kid has gotten these take home kits similar to build a bear from our library, and each time they have been free and so much fun.
This is when we took home a make your own pizza kit and grew herbs.
Weekly take home coloring and craft kits:
Our library week has different activities to take home by the door. This is the first thing my kid gets when we walk in the door and our library staff is sure to change out the crafts every week for regulars like ourselves.
Various online resources:
ancestry library edition, practice driver's license exams, mango (online language learning tool), membership with the AAA, and much more.
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