Tag Archives: Children

Join us for the start of the Library’s Summer Reading Program on June 14th!

Sign up for our Read & Bead program, which will run throughout the summer during Library hours, and you’ll get a necklace chain, a Read & Bead chart, and while supplies last, a “Bag of Enchantment” with fun goodies inside!

Check off a box on the Read & Bead chart for every 20 minutes of reading you do over the summer. You’ll earn one bead or charm to add to your necklace for each checked-off box – as well as a leaf with your name on it to add to our Summer Reading Trees. For every 200 minutes of reading (10 checked-off boxes), you’ll also be able to add a fantasy creature to the Trees!

Your reading time for Read & Bead can also be counted towards the Governor’s Summer Reading Challenge, if you’re taking part in that program as well.

By the end of the summer, we hope that all of our participants will have amazing personalized necklaces to show off, and our Summer Reading Trees will be bursting with life!

The Nutmeg Book Award allows students to choose their favorite books from lists of ten nominated titles in four age divisions (Elementary, Intermediate, Middle School, & High School) and vote for them in April. The Library is adding copies of many of next year’s nominees to its physical collection, but we also offer a curated reading list on the Palace app that includes ebook and audiobook editions of both the nominees and the most recent set of winners!

Whether you’re planning to vote or just looking for a good summer reading book, sign in to Palace and take a look at the list – and if you don’t find what you’re looking for there, you can always check out our other two apps, Libby and Hoopla.

It’s Mystery Month at the Library! Our themed displays for May feature detective stories, crime dramas, whodunnits and thrillers. Classic literary sleuths like Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew are featured alongside modern equivalents like Alex Cross and Agatha Raisin, as well as the real-life detectives who star in true crime tales. Stop by and track down a new favorite!

Thanks to a generous donation, five giant prehistoric beasts now call our Children’s Room home! These oversized dinosaur toys – each a foot or more long – will be available for young patrons to play with on request; three are made of soft plastic, while the other two are action figures with movable limbs. Dinosaur lovers can meet and greet our new arrivals before exploring the collection for stories about other ancient animals!

Poem in Your Pocket Day is a special event that takes place every year on a day in National Poetry Month – this year it’s today, April 10th! Help the Library celebrate by taking a “poem for your pocket” from the display on the the curbside pickup table in the foyer, the Friends of the Library nook at the bottom of the stairs, or the main desk upstairs.. Each paper pocket features either a short poem or an excerpt from a longer poem; you can simply enjoy them as is, use them as inspiration for your own creative work, or share them with friends and family! They will continue to be available through the remainder of the month, so don’t worry if you miss the holiday itself.

“This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.”

It’s National Poetry Month once again! Launched by a nonprofit charitable organization called the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month has since become the largest literary celebration in the world. Check out our April book displays, which feature everything from the collected works of famous poets to simple stories with rhyming text, as well as the stories of poets both real and fictional. Even if you’ve never had an interest in poetry, there’s sure to be something here you’ll love!

The 2025 National Poetry Month poster features an excerpt from the poem “Gate A-4”, by former Young People’s Poet Laureate and Academy Chancellor Naomi Shihab Nye, as well as artwork by New York Times-bestselling author and illustrator Christy Mandin.

There’s always an activity set up for kids of all ages to enjoy in our Children’s Room!Come check out our newest addition – PlusPlus pieces, which kids can use to make 2D or 3D creations.

Clark Memorial Library will continue to be closed on Fridays until further notice. We will continue to work towards returning to our usual hours; thank you as always for your patience and understanding in the meantime.

Families with young children are invited to join Mrs. Perkins, a Montessori Guide from Willow Tree Montessori, for a storytime session! During this read-aloud, Willow Tree hopes to share the love of language with rich vocabulary through stories, songs and poems. Drop in starting at 10:30 AM, Saturday April 5.

Easy Reader Reading Levels

Our Easy Reader collection now features colored star stickers to help find books at the right level for young readers! The collection is on the right when entering the Children’s Room downstairs, on the wall next to the catalog computer; the three levels are Beginning Reader, indicated by a red star, Intermediate Reader, indicated by a yellow star, and Advancing Reader, indicated by a green star. There are dozens of brand new books for all reading levels on display, and hundreds of titles to choose from in total – stop by and pick a few up today!