Be Creative @ Your Library This Summer!

That's right, the 2009 Collaborative Summer Reading Program is upon us! This year's theme is Be Creative @ Your Library, and we intend to be just that....

What is the Summer Reading Program?
The Summer Reading Program is a collaborative effort by numerous public libraries across the country to encourage literacy for all during the summer months. The Fernley Branch Library will be hosting its program for five weeks between June 15 and July 18, 2009.

Why is it called, "Be Creative @ Your Library?"
Each year the program works under a pre-determined theme, this year the theme is creativity and the arts, as such we have designed our program to offer FREE opportunities for our community and readers to engage in creative workshops. Reading often inspires us to be more creative in our lives, and we are hoping that our readers will share with us any creative projects that they are inspired to make based on what they read for the program.

Who can participate in the program?
While the Summer Reading Program is most often a popular event for children and young adults, we encourage all ages to participate! This year we have set a goal for the Fernley Library, we wish to have our community read 5,000 hours during the five week program! This is a tall order and we can only reach it with everyone's help, regardless of age!

What do you have to do to participate in the program?
To participate in the program as a reader all you have to do is come into the Fernley Branch Library (or your local Lyon County branch Library) and fill out a short registration form. You will set a personal reading goal for the five week program. That goal will outline how many hours (total) you would like to read during the program.

As you meet those goals come in to the Library and share with the staff a creative work that you made inspired by what you have read, or tell the staff a little about what you read. They will give you points on your readers log (kept at the library with your registration form), you will then be able to choose a sucker from our sucker tree. If your sucker has a colored start on it you have won a prize--pick any prize you like from the matching prize shelf!

What about those FREE creative workshops you mentioned earlier?
To help us celebrate the program we have designed several special events and workshops to run throughout the program. These events/workshops are FREE. Some allow drop-in attendance such as our Monday afternoon movies and story time, others require registration and may have limited seating such as our braiding, beaded ornament, tye-dye, and pottery workshops. Visit the Fernely Branch Library for a copy of the event calendar or call to reserve your seat (775) 575-3366. Registration opens the week prior to each scheduled event.

Do you have to be a program reader to take part in the workshops?
No. You may participate in the special events and/or workshops without being a program reader.

I participated in the Summer Reading Program in years past at the Fernley Branch Library, how is this year's program different from others?
If you participated in our program in years past you will notice a lot of changes. In an effort to reach out to more people and to be able to expand our own creative horizons, we are not issuing craft packets as we did in previous programs. Instead we are offering a fantastic series of creative workshops in-house at the Fernley Branch Library. All are hosted by local artists or Library staff members.

There will be prizes issued throughout the program as individual goals are met. There will also be weekly self-guided art contests that will allow participants a chance at event more prizes!

You will notice that you can set reasonable goals for yourself or your family readers rather than being committed to reading a specific number of books by the end of the program. This will allow more people to participate even if they are not able to stay in town for the duration of the program.

There will be some familiar elements to our program this year including afternoon movies, free children's books, and the ever-popular event closing ice cream social!

For more information or to register for the program please visit or call the Fernley Branch Library at (775) 575-3366
We are located at: 575 Silver Lace Blvd., Fernley, Nevada 89408
Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Tuesday & Thursday from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., and Saturday from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

El Dia de los Ninos ~ A Smashing Success!

Local Families turned out in fantastic numbers to help us celebrate El Dia de los Ninos at the Fernely Branch Library on Saturday, April 25, 2009. We would like to thank all who attended, as they were an integral part of the success of that event!

Children and adults enjoyed several different types of crafts including (the most popular) Talavera style painted piggy banks, free tamales, a live performance by the Aztec Multi-Cultural Dance Group of Yerington, and a pinata filled with goodies. Kids were invited to dance with the Aztec group after their performance and were given small trinkets for doing so.

We were happy to showcase our new arrivals for our Spanish and bilingual language collection inside the library which included new titles in adult and children's fiction and non-fiction and new additions to the Spanish/bilingual DVD and Audio Book collections! These items are available today at the Fernley Branch Library for check-out.

We can't wait for the Spring 2010 event which will feature more diverse cultural traditions. If you participated in our 2009 event leave us a comment and let us know what you thought of the program, or if you have ideas for upcoming events at your library let us know!

Aztec Multi-Cultural Dance Group of Yerington, performing at the Fernley Branch Library 2009 El Dia de los Ninos celebration


Children receiving goodies for learning to dance in the Aztec tradition