The Cornwall Public Library held “Take Your Child to the Library Day” for the second year in a row.
The Feb. 7 event attracted 95 participants, up from the 85 who attended last year. Last year 14 new library cards were issued compared to 19 this year.
“I think every once in a while people have to remember there is a library and we have an awful lot of stuff to offer,” said youth librarian Liz Fisher. “Even people who have been coming here from time to time say we didn’t realize you had this. We do a lot of tours for the elementary schools. The parents who come along on the tours are dumbfounded.”
For example, kids learn where the periodicals are located and where back issues of magazines are stored. Parents are amazed when a child lifts the shelf to reveal the secret stash.
On Saturday, a number of activities were planned for the children.
Those into arts and crafts could make Valentines throughout the day. They could also build simple birdfeeders.
A brand new StoryWalk ® was unveiled. In the StoryWalk ®, a book is taken apart into panels. Participants walk around the library to get the whole story. The walk also includes a treasure hunt where kids have to answer questions for a prize. The prize winner will be selected at random at the end of February.
The story circle allowed parents, grandparents, and children to just sit and relax while they listened to two or three stories. Those in the circle participate by reading a part of the story.
At 1:30 p.m., the older library volunteers unveiled their International Day project. They displayed what they learned about another country and even prepared food native to that country. A total of seven countries were represented. The display case at the front of the library includes souvenirs library staff brought back from their visits outside the United States.
