August! Can you believe summer is coming a close?

We dream about long summer days filled with adventure in the winter but spend most of the actual summer season trying desperately to catch up. Or maybe that’s just me. And maybe that is because at the Library, we are rocking and rolling in the summer and we love it. This summer our reading program was awesome. I know I have a bias, but it’s true. We were able to partner with local manufactures for presentations and facility tours. HCR, Allied Steel, Spika Design & Manufacturing, and Hi-Heat are each adding a unique and vital aspect to our community. If by chance, you don’t know what each of these manufacturers are doing, I encourage you to find out because it’s pretty amazing. The Art Center inspired us with a “Found Art” experience at Brewery Flats. Also, the Lewistown Public Works department shared their giant snow plows for our Big Machine Petting Zoo. A bicycling theater troupe, The Agile Rascal, lead an outstanding theater workshop, as well as, sharing an evening performance on the deck of the library. And let’s not forget that Clifford the Big Red Dog visited the Library with Montana PBS. Plus, Benchmark Masonry shared skills, stories, and lead a Lego building time. In addition, kids participated in small group Robotics Labs, cause yeah, we do that ?. During the Library’s Imagination Stations and Story Times, we built bridges, bumblebee finger puppets, wind turbines, played with coding games and shaving cream, made watermelon stained glass and paper rockets. Whew! We were busy….and that was just the youth program.

One of my favorite activities was Blackout Poetry. You may be asking yourself, “Blackout poetry, what is that?” Well, we started by removing one page from a book. Then, the kids were instructed to choose only the most powerful, funny, sad, or captivating words they came across. After underlining these exceptional words, the children could then choose to go back and find filler words that would help create a poem. Lastly, the kids crossed out the unused words with markers creating designs on the page. Thus, leaving not only a unique poem behind but also creative designs. Intrigued? Come into the Library and see some examples on display of this remarkable art. And don’t forget to check out some of the other amazing things we built this summer.