Travels With Theresa, MIA? No we are at the library for the SRP!

Sorry all. In the hoopla of the last day of school for my new Kindergarten graduate I didn't get a chance to let everyone know what was going on this past weekend. I am sure you found something to do without me so let me tell you what we did this weekend anyway. Especially since what we did was just the start of a summer long event that you need to check out.

When we moved to York County, PA in 2008 we were looking for a great library filled with books galore. What we found were little holes in the wall that had books but only enough to fit inside the tiny closet sized libraries here. We didn't expect much from our library system here in Pennsylvania. Never less when summer arrived and the Summer Reading Programs kicked off we were very surprised. Not only did they have a awesome reading program, they also had a great outdoor plan for the public parks system.

My daughter loves listening to me read books, all the time. Now that she is learning to read she likes the fact that she can do it all by herself. The reading program is a great way to enforce the reading skills she developed in school this year and get her ready for the first grade. This years theme is One World, Many Stories. All the activities and events will be about different cultures and the world around us.

This is how the Reading Program works.You read so many minutes and there are different rewards you can receive. Just for signing up kids get free meals at Isaac's, Denny's and Texas Roadhouse, free ice cream at Chick-Fil-A, free ticket to Maize Quest, $10 to start up a bank account at Metro Bank if you read 10 books, and my daughter's favorite; a ribbon for joining the reading club. After 200, 400, 600, and 800 minutes of reading you can collect some prizes.You log your minutes into a book you get from the library then submit them online or in the libraries computers.

While at the library picking up more books to read check out different activities and crafts that might be going on. My only disappointment might be the fact that most of these activities happen on the weekdays since most libraries don't have Saturday hours. Plus this year I wanted to attend a cooking in culture class with my 6 year old since she loves to cook. The ages put on the activity are 9 years old and up. It was disappointing since this was the coolest thing on the agenda this year.

Now you might be thinking I don't want my child to sit inside and read all summer long. I agree, reading is great but you need some outdoor time as well. So take your book from the Reading Club and head out to the local York Co. parks to do some letter boxing. For those not familiar letter boxing is like a big scavenger hunt. Usually you would get coordinates online and find the boxes where you would leave a "calling card" of sorts. For the parks programs they designed a list of clues that you must follow to find a post with a rubbing attached. You can take the inserted papers from the book that the library supplied and a crayon to do the rubbings. The more you do the more rewards you will receive. It's a lot of fun but be prepared for some hikes. The locations are marked as Easy, Moderate, and Hard. If you have small children you might not want to do the Hard Trails, believe me they are not kidding. Also be aware of what your getting into and pack for the trip.Sunscreen, bug spray, and hats are a must. Also be careful of animals. We have encountered snakes in these parks so be aware.

Bridget's first Letter boxing this year.



On Saturday we attend the big kick off for the Summer Reading Program at the Revolution Stadium in York City. The event was new this year and it showed. The venue was awesome but I expected something with baseball to be involved since it was at the stadium. While we are talking about the Rev Stadium may I just say it was awesome. If you get a chance to check out the games there do it. To get back on topic let's just say the event was not well planned. The tables to sign up for the SRP were pushed close together right when you walked in. Each table was labeled with the library branch it represented but it was on the table so when people stood there to sign up there was no way in knowing where you were going. The baseball park  is equipped with a children's area that has a playground and hand push starting carousel. Also in that area was a face painter. We didn't get to go to that area but were impressed by the ballparks area for the kids. They also had a area for storytelling there from the author of B is for Boomer. We also missed out on this to get a good seat for the Steven Courtney Concert. You may hear us mention this guy a lot from time to time. He is a local celebrity. He not only writes and performs awesome kid music he also has a grown up show he puts on in grown up venues. He is a Christian singer that writes music for all faiths as well as some very Christian based music. His awesome band, the Suitcase Musicians, are top notch and completes the group perfectly. I think playing on top of a dugout is probably on the top of the list of cool places to rock out with a band. It was the highlight of the day there. The event ended after the concert but we found out that the extra letter boxing page they handed to us when we got there was actually in the ballpark so we went running to find it before they kicked us out. It was never explained to us about it being for that day. We did find it and were the last ones to get the rubbing. All in all is was a bit of disappointment. We wanted more activities and crafts to do and there wasn't a lot. The people at the booths were not informed or outgoing as well. The only library that stuck out to me was in Red Lion. They approached you and gave out calender of events to everyone, not only their branch sign ups. They also had activities at the tables for the kids to take home. Other libraries actually had non library related stuff to buy which I wasn't prepared for and had to say "no" a lot.  It was super hot and a bottle of water was $2 each. I was happy I took my own plus a cool pack for Bridget to use on the back of her neck. They needed to let people know that there was stuff to buy before they got there. I am happy to be part of the SRP at our local library this year once again but I am not going back to this event.  Check out these photos of our day at the Rev Stadiums Summer Reading Program kick off.
          
          
                                           
Go to the library and get your Summer Reading Program started now! Let me know how many minutes your kids are up to and the rewards they get. Post the comments here on my blog for all to see your bragging rights. I know I will!