Children made animals out of clay during the celebration.
These creatures were created during the summer program.
This jar of bugs fascinated the children.
The Cornwall Public Library wrapped up its summer reading program on Monday with a Creative Share celebration that brought together dozens of young children and their parents to talk about books, eat sweets and have fun.
More than 300 students – the vast majority of them in pre-school through fifth grade – took part in the reading program. Librarians Linda Israel and Liz Fisher, the assistant to youth services, helped guide the children to select books to read and keep track of in a journal.
At the celebration, a video documentary was shown that was made by several students at the library. Fisher said that the regional library system provided a grant to purchase small digital video cameras that the teen students used to record presentations like that of Kofi Donkor, a master drummer from Ghana, who recreated the spirit of an African village at the library in late July.
The creative work of students also was on display at the celebration on Monday, including elaborate animal figurines that the children made. The fantasy figures included the real and imaginary: from a platypus to a dragon and a “normaie,” which was described as “a made-up animal that lives in the wilds of the Arctic and has large feet so it can slide.”
Children at the party could make their own figurines from clay, draw pictures and tell stories with chalk or look at some of the 100 or so book reviews written by children in the summer reading program.
Librarian Linda Israel said that this summer 30 teen volunteers logged 300 hours of service at the public library, where they helped organize the children’s reading program and kept the book shelves organized. Many of the teens baked cookies and other treats for Monday night’s celebration that provided a joyful end of summer for the young readers in town.
