Programs see plenty of participation during pandemic
Virtual storytimes, a summer reading program website, online resources and more have been utilized at the Fannin County Public Library during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beanstack, a website and smartphone app that allows children, teens and adults to track their reading and write reviews of books, has been used to track the library patrons’ summer reading this year in place of the typical in-person summer reading program that is held annually.
According to Branch Manager Monica Clark, 13,108 minutes were read in June, 684 books have been read and logged during the summer and 103 reviews have been written.
Clark said, “The best response has been that we have over 100 reviews that have been written, and most of those are by children. They have really expressed themselves.”
One review from a young patron read, “To start off, I have to say, you already know you will love this book the second you know it is from Laura Ingalls Wilder. I felt excited when I realized they are going to live in a dugout, which is a house dug into the ground of hill. Which means, your neighbors are literally snakes and ground hogs. It’s adventurous. What I love best about Laura is she has a big imagination, she is brave and she loves her family. I feel a lot like Laura.”
Those who wish to sign up for summer reading can do so at www.mountainregionallibrary.org/beanstack.
The library’s Youth Services Specialist, Catherine Burr, has been offering virtual storytimes throughout the summer as well. The videos are shared to the Fannin County Public Library Facebook page, and young patrons have enjoyed the opportunity to continue receiving storytime while also doing crafts, singing along to songs, rhyming and more.
The library also has children’s mystery book bags and free crafts for the kiddos.
“They have been very excited,” Clark said. “We’ve had kids come in and say, ‘I heard y’all have mystery bags.’ And we’re like, ‘Yes. We have the books in there, but we’re not going to tell you what they are.’ Then they’ll come back and they’ll tell us. So it’s bringing them back in and having them interact with us. Not just through Facebook or online, but coming in and sharing with us their excitement.”
Clark plans to offer more programming in the coming months and when guidelines allow.
“There’s so much that we can offer,” she said. “Up here in rural areas, even as much as Blue Ridge is growing, it’s not the easiest to get to a science museum or get to an art museum. So one of the things that I’ve done before, and would like to do here, is bring those kind of experiences to the community. Whether it’s through hands on programs about how the human body works or this is all about birds, we have a bird store here. We can have a bird exploration program. We can have try to paint like Van Gogh. We can offer those things. That’s what I foresee in the future is being able to offer those programs.”
While library staff has had to use virtual programs this year, they also want patrons to know they are in the library and ready to help them with what they need.
“It’s just trying to connect as much as we can so it’s not all virtual,” Clark said. “Bringing them back in saying, ‘We’re here, we’re open, everything’s a little bit different, but we’re still your local library, and we still want you to know we care, and we’re here to help you.'”