Fall Programs in Children's Room

by Pam Everhardt Bloom  Rowan Public Library

Summer is ending and Fall Programs in the Children’s Room at Rowan Public library are in full swing.  In addition to our weekly storytime and art programs beginning Sept. 12^th at all branches, your library also offers two monthly clubs, Explorer and Adventure Club, for 2^nd through 5^th graders on selected Saturdays at Headquarters (Salisbury). Club dates are Sep. 10^th and 24^th, Oct. 1^st and 15^th, Nov. 5^th and 12^th from 11 am to Noon.   

Explorer Club’s focus this fall is on life skills. At our Sept. 10^th meeting, “Dewey See It?” children will play “Stump the Librarian” and learn how to access the collection in the Children’s Room. More than a traditional book club, Explorer Club takes a different twist. Instead of reading a selected book before they arrive, children are introduced to different books from the collection and challenged to read something they might never consider trying. Fun activities this month for children focus on using Dewey Decimal and also exploring library themes within fiction and picture books.  One book, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein has been a favorite of kids and adults since it was published in 2013. We except excitement when young patrons discover more Grabenstein selections that continue the same literary connections, puzzles and surprises loved in the original. Indeed, Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics and The Island of Dr. Libris hold fast to the author’s original format of mystery and action, providing literary clues as well as an author’s list of challenges and great classics to read.  A more contemporary version of The Magic Treehouse series, C. Alexander London’s book, We Sled with Dragon, lands twins Oliver and Celia in yet another Accidental Adventure series as they search for the long-lost Library of Alexandria.  Other selections the club will explore could entice readers of all ages.  Those books include, Richard Wright and the Library Card by William Miller, Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora, A Summer of Sundays by Lindsay Eland, The Legend of Spud Murphy by Eoin Colfer, The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhand by Jenn Swan Downey, The Library Card by Jerry Spinelli, Under Copp’s Hill by Katherine Ayers, The Dragon in the Library by Kate Klimo and older classics such as Gertrude Chandler Warner’s The Deserted Library Mystery from her timeless Box Car Children Series.

Continuing the theme of life skills from the first Explorer meeting this fall, our two club programs will continue to include targeted opportunities for thinking and doing. Adventure Club programs focus on hands-on science and/or craft based activities. September 24th’s Adventure Club is not to be missed. Kids will find the Makey Makey controller experience electrifying. Come October, Explorer Club will visit the COOP, RPL’s new Cooperative Lab Maker Space at Headquarters and activities will include a demonstration of our new 3-D printer.

Don’t miss the fun. Mark your calendar for two different club meetings each month in the Children’s Room at Headquarters, Sept. – Nov., and check the RPL postings for details about weekly programing and other special events for children this fall at all branches. All programs are free and open to the public. See you in September!