By Beth Christian Broschart
The Parsons Advocate
PARSONS – Local libraries joined in the celebration of National Library Week April 10 to 16, and Mountaintop Library Director Ivonne Martinez said she planned to read to the kids and help promote use and support of the library. Mountaintop Library is located in Thomas.
Martinez said she just returned from the Public Library Association Conference in Denver. She said while there, she received a ton of information, including a pre-conference class about “Ready to Read.”
“That program helps get kids ready to read for when they go to pre-k,” Martinez said. “It is one program I want to do a few times a month. Kids can come in with their parent and we can go over letters and different things. The session gave us information with 365 things to do with kids. It is amazing.”
Martinez said she took a session on STEM so she can offer some programs about that.
“We are a tiny library, but there are simple things we can offer such as movies,” Martinez said. “While at the conference, I saw Anderson Cooper and Arianna Huffington.”
Angela Johnson, library assistant at Five Rivers Public Library in Parsons, said the library offered its patrons a free week.
“People who had overdue books and brought them back had their fines forgiven,” Johnson said. “We also gave out pen with the library logo, name and address on them.”
A press release from the American Library Association said National Library Week is a time to celebrate the contributions of the nation’s libraries and library workers. It is a time to promote library use and support from the community. From free access to books and online resources for families to library business centers that support entrepreneurship and retraining, libraries offer opportunity to all. The theme for the 2016 National Library Week is ‘Libraries Transform.’
National Library week was first sponsored in 1958 by the American Library Association and libraries across the county celebrate each April. It is used as a time to celebrate the contributions of the nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote use and support of the library, including school libraries, public libraries, academic libraries and special libraries across the nation.
Additional information about the Mountaintop Library is available by calling 304-463-4582, and information about Five Rivers Library is available by calling 304-478-3880.