Book Bins for Kids Coming to Branches; Big Read Trivia Night April 19 and Foundation Benefit April 23
Who doesn’t love to casually browse the aisles of their favorite branch library and see what strikes our fancy?
We discovered that preschoolers do, too, and the Library is launching a project to make it even more fun and enticing for young picture-book browsers.
Over the next few months, the libraries’ children’s departments will be getting wood picture-book bins. The first bins from the grant have been installed at the Republic Branch Library.
Books will be organized alphabetically by author, face out, so kids can see the covers instead of the book spines.
Why the change? As other library districts have seen, face-out picture books entice children to browse the collection, letting the imaginative book covers draw them in even before they can read.
The bins are funded with a generous grant from the Friends of the Library, which devotes much of its work to advance early literacy and reading opportunities for children.
The Ash Grove and Strafford branch libraries tested the concept last year using existing materials, with great results. Ash Grove Branch Manager Beth Snow described one encounter: “Right now there is a young lady of preschool age, a regular at Ash Grove, who is enjoying the new bins immensely! She has not often browsed the vertical picture book shelving in the past but has spent the last half-hour flipping through the picture books.”
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Recruit a trivia-loving team (age 21 and older) of two to six and enter the Big Read Trivia Night at Patton Alley Pub at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, 313 S. Patton Ave. It’s all things literary and “Maltese Falcon,” in honor of the Big Read book title.
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The Library has partnered with Missouri State University on a night of poetry and performance at Barnes & Noble to remember a late MSU colleague and to benefit the Library Foundation.
“Remembering Michael Burns: A Reading from ‘Night of the Grizzly,’” runs 7-8:30 p.m. April 23, featuring folk musician Julie Henigan and remembrances of Burns’ life and work and readings by MSU colleagues.
A percentage of all sales on April 23 or online April 23-28 helps the Foundation. Shoppers must present the paper book fair voucher (available at all library branches or downloadable through thelibrary.org. Online shoppers may provide the Bookfair ID, 10718690.)
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