SPARKS OF CREATIVITY
Sparks are flying at the Liberty Lake Municipal Library.
A new program called Library Sparks has youngsters singing, wiggling and giggling together. It’s a fresh approach to the library’s typical Tuesday story time, and encourages children and adults to actively participate in dramatic play and movement that is incorporated into stories and themes of the day.
“Library Sparks is for those kids who need to wiggle and should be moving,” says library clerk and program coordinator Diane Moll. “So through the medium of story and song we encourage them to move, stretch and to imagine and to creatively express themselves … of course, the underlying idea is to encourage reading.”
Library Sparks began March 6 and is scheduled each Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. for 20 minutes. It caters to ages 2 through 5, with emphasis on the younger ages.
The library’s other story programs remain the same with baby lapsit Mondays at 10:15 to 11 a.m. for those 1 to 2 years old; Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for preschoolers and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. for children ages 8 and younger.
The new format was developed as a way to boost participation of the library’s Tuesday morning story time, and was shaped partially after listening to parents talk about the need for short, structured exercise programs they could do with their youngsters.
“We started getting requests for toddler exercise videos, which we started carrying” said Library Director Pamela Mogen. “Library Sparks is ideal for those who are too old to sit still and too young to sit still.”
Mogen said she was pleased with response so far, noting 15 children with 11 adults attended the first Library Sparks.
The program is designed to be energetic and fun. Participants can expect an individualized welcome song, a little “Hokey-Pokey” or other action-packed sing-along, a “how-to” of a simple sign-language expression, and a short discussion of the day’s weather. This week’s crowd also heard a story about water and acted out rainfall, drinking a glass of water and scrubbin’ in the bathtub.
“There could be something like this at other libraries, but we’re not modeling ours after anybody,” Mogen said. “It’s a bit of a work in progress because it will change and grow.”
As library officials work to teach youngsters dramatic movement that expands the boundaries of early literacy, they envision additional opportunities in the future for the developing library, such as creation of a library drama group.