On Aug. 12 Mineral County Library held the last session of Summer Reading Program (SRP) 2013 with a rock-themed event. Butch Heater kept the kids entertained with his storytelling and Georgana Mayne shared information about rocks and showed interesting rock samples to the kids. The afternoon was topped off with a “dig” where the kids searched for dinosaur bones and jewels. Each child took home a shovel and bucket filled with treasures.

During the summer events special supplies were in evidence thanks to a grant from the U.S. institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Nevada State Library and Archives. These supplies included puppets and puppet stand; padded seating mats; and sand tables and shade canopies for the last session’s  “dig.” The grant also made possible the July 29 visits by authors Terri Farley and Suzanne Morgan Williams. The grant funds help the library to provide excellent services beyond what the county budget would allow, greatly enhancing the offerings of the rural library.

Library staff members would like to thank the many people who helped to make SRP 2013 a success.  Thank you to Friends of the Library who are instrumental in raising funds for the program; their book sales and raffles raise funds for craft supplies, themed books, and prizes for reading.

Thank you to the Mineral County Independent-News for helping  to get the word out about SRP. Thank you to  Butch Heater for enthusiastic storytelling; Cindy Nixon and B&B True Value for the gardening demonstration; Georgana Mayne for the rock talk and rock displays; Yvonne at Wagner Ace Hardware for assistance in obtaining grant items; and Tracy Andersen and the Pizza Factory for the gift certificates for prize winners of the shovel design contest. Thank you to authors Terri Farley and Suzanne Morgan Williams for their willingness to visit Hawthorne and share their expertise.  Thank you to library staff members for providing a quiet, relaxing dinner for the authors between sessions and especially to Sue Banks for providing a delicious, gluten-free meal for our authors.

Last but not least, a big thank you goes to all the children who came to the events and their parents, guardians, grandparents, aunts, and uncles who care enough to get their kids involved at the library. We do much planning to help make the summer special for kids. We succeed when kids learn the library is a great place to visit and that books can provide wonderful summer memories.