7
Oct
Read Across Lawrence for Kids 2013 Recap Part 2
I gave a recap of the first part of Read Across Lawrence for Kids (RAL Kids), a month long one book, one community program for young readers, HERE. Now for the second half of the month’s worth of exciting events including Jennifer Holm <squeek>!!
In the picture above you will see that RAL Kids had it’s very own ice cream flavor featured at our local downtown creamery, Sylas & Maddy’s. The flavor was a the most delicious key lime pie ice cream flavor you’ve ever had and was available the entire month of September.
Events were mostly based in partnerships between the library and the community, all themed around the featured book Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm. A few of the featured events included a Historic Downtown Lawrence Treasure Hunt that could be done anytime throughout the month, a STEM program on hurricanes with UKanTeach students from the University of Kansas, a babysitting clinic with Lawrence Memorial Hospital, and a free family movie at Liberty Hall. To celebrate the end of the RAL Kids month, three-time Newbery Honor winning author Jennifer Holm visited with the kids of Lawrence in a virtual author talk in the theater of the Lawrence Arts Center.
The event programming costs were minimal compared to the total programs held throughout the month (11 RAL Kids events) due to community sponsorships and partnerships. We received several large food donations, businesses allowed us to use their venue space free of charge, and they donated their time and services for programs. One of the reasons I love living in Lawrence is the sense of community and compassion, especially when it comes to supporting the library and the young people of Lawrence. It’s a beautiful thing to witness and to be apart of.
And I was blown away by how awesome author Jennifer Holm is. She was so fun and pleasant to work with throughout the entire RAL Kids process and did an AMAZING job at our final virtual author talk event. The picture above is her rocking the author talk while I look very pregnant. She talked a lot about what it’s like to be a writer, books and comics she liked to read as a kid, Turtle in Paradise, other books she has written, she answered audience questions, and we even got to meet her son! She also revealed that she’s currently working on a sequel to Turtle in Paradise titled Full of Beans. It was a great way to finish up the RAL Kids month.
As I did with the first part of the recap, here’s a Storify wrap up of the final weeks of programs for this year’s RAL Kids:
