Category Archives: Programs

Updates about ongoing programs.

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents” – Emilie Buchwald

1000 Books Before Kindergarten is a national early literacy program for parents and caregivers to take part in with their young children. The goal is to read 1000 books aloud to your child before they start kindergarten, helping them gain the confidence to become strong readers and successful in school and life.

Is it possible to read 1000 books? Yes it is! Reading 3 books a day for 1 year = 1095 books, reading 1 book a day for 3 years = 1095 books — and repeat reads do count towards the total! Clark Memorial Library’s goal is to develop a program that supports young families by providing incentives and materials to help reach their reading goals — including special 1000 Books Before Kindergarten book-bags containing a curated selection of award-winning children’s books.

Stop by the Library starting January 31st and sign up to get started! You will receive an Activity Journal to keep track of your progress and a pamphlet that provides more information about the program and the benefits of early literacy. When you reach a reading milestone, drop in again to have your journal marked and get a special sticker!

Share the Love!
Wednesday, February 7 – Wednesday, February 14
During Library hours we will be providing craft supplies
for patrons to create custom Valentine’s Day cards
and decorations in the Makerspace! All ages welcome.

Thank you to all of our patrons who took part in Snowman Palooza and made it such a resounding success! We received dozens of wonderful snowmen to decorate the Library with, and dozens more went home with the participants – there were around a hundred snowmen in all! If you left a snowman with the library, see if you can find it in the banner above (along with a sneaky prehistoric photo-bomber)!

We will be pausing our children’s programming January 6 – January 24 to give the staff time to prepare for our spring activities and programs.

The Library will continue to provide all other services during this period.
Keep an eye on the event calendar!

Help us welcome winter by making snowmen to decorate the Library!
The Children’s Room will have a snowman crafting area
set up in the Makerspace during library hours from
Wednesday, December 13, to Saturday, January 6.
Make one for the Library and one to take home! All ages welcome.

Do you need Community Service Hours or just want to learn something new? Clark Memorial Library is once again partnering with the Warm Up America Foundation to create warm blankets for those in need. The goal is to create 7″x9″ knit or crocheted squares that can later be joined together to make blankets of various sizes. This is a perfect way to practice your knitting and/or crochet skills, but no prior experience is needed – we will provide instructions and materials. Drop in to work with us on Thursday afternoons between 3:00 to 4:00 PM. For ages 10 and up.

The following children’s programs will be offered September 13 – December 13:

Wednesday Morning Storytimes: Wednesdays 10:30 AM
Family friendly stories, activities, and a craft. For all ages.

Open Maker Days: Wednesdays 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Visit our Makerspace to build, tinker, dream and delight in our hands-on activities.
Drop in and enjoy! For all ages.

Arts@Clark! Saturdays: Saturdays 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Explore your creative side! Enjoy our exhibits in the Community Room
and then see what’s going on each week in the Makerspace area. For all ages.

BE A LIBRARY INSIDER!
For the next few weeks we will be highlighting our fabulous LION Catalog system. Drop in for a short hands-on lesson with a staff member to learn how you can use the catalog from home to effectively search for new titles, place holds and renew existing loans, and take advantage of your library account’s many useful features!
Lessons are available between 2:00 & 4:00 PM on Saturdays.


During the Library’s summer children’s program, our young patrons took part in the All Together Now! House-Building Project – starting with identical paper templates and squares of foamboard, they created over thirty unique houses and yards using craft supplies and their imaginations. At the end of the project, we put all the finished houses together into Clarkville: a model town that reflects the creativity and diversity of our full-sized Bethany community. You can take a brief tour of the completed town using the slideshow above! We will be collecting pictures of all the houses in a book that patrons will be able to flip through when they stop by the Children’s Room as well, and possibly even more exhibitions of the results of this amazing program in the future.

Thank you so much to everyone who took part in both the House-Building Project and the summer children’s program as a whole!