By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette
August is Family Fun Month. In case you need help to find ways to celebrate Family Fun Month, the Mary J. Barnett Library is here for you. We have shelves of ways to entertain your family this month.
The library has a large selection of jigsaw puzzles and board games that are perfect for that family night at home. Our DVD collection features a number of family friendly movies and series to check out. Our Wii games collection is fairly extensive and is a great way for families to play together.
Our juvenile section of the library has something for every age and interest level. In addition to our picture books and chapter books, we have an extensive selection of read along books. We have Vox and Wonderbooks, which are picture books and chapter books that have a device that allows the child to listen to the audiobook as they follow along with the print text. These are great for children who are too young to read or for beginning or struggling readers who are able to use a multi-sensory approach to reading. Additionally, we have a large selection of Play Away books, which are self-contained audiobooks. The Play Aways are great for kids to listen with headphones, but they are also wonderful for car trips since they can be plugged into your car’s audio system with an auxiliary cord. Listening and discussing books as a family is a great way to foster your children’s imagination and love of reading.
We have some new “Bluey” books, which are quite popular with our youngest patrons. The Moana and Minecraft beginning readers are some of our most-checked-out books with young readers. For dinosaur lovers, the Tyrannosaurus Rex virtual reality book has been a big hit; readers can download an app and use special viewing glasses that pair with a cell phone to enjoy VR content in the book. We are still expanding our Who Was, What Was and Where Was collection of nonfiction books about historical people, places and events which are extremely popular.
We have a great collection of new chapter books including the latest in the following series: “Judy Moody,” “Sophie Mouse,” “The Forgotten Five” and The Magic Treehouse. The “Who Would Win” series is one that children of all ages enjoy, and we have several new additions to that series.
Our new children’s “Farm to Table Cookbook” is a great way to involve your child in cooking and to teach them about nutrition and where food comes from. The MJB Library has a large section of children’s cookbooks. These are great not only to teach reading and culinary skills, but also a fun and painless way to learn about fractions and measuring.
Our telescope is available for check out so you can star gaze with your family during the month. While you’re in the library, take time to browse our shelves of book sale items. We have books for all ages as well as some games and puzzles for sale for a free will donation to the Friends of the Library. If you don’t have time to stop at the library, download the Libby app and enjoy ebooks and audiobooks for the entire family.
Remember that we have a number of children’s activities planned for the month of August including The LEGO Mania Day on Thursday, Aug. 7; STEM Lab on Wednesday, Aug. 13; and Creation Corner on Wednesday, Aug. 20. All of these events begin at 4 p.m., and we request that you preregister your children so we have adequate supplies.
During the school year, we have planned youth events to coincide with the Guthrie Center Elementary school early releases so kids can take the bus to the library and come directly from school to the library activities. Watch our website for additional details. Again, we request that you preregister students for these events.
Our 10 a.m. preschool Story Hour is filled with fun stories and activities this month. Aug. 8, our topic is sheep. On Aug. 15, horses will be featured while cows are the theme of our Aug. 22 event. We will skip Story Hour on Aug. 29, as it is county fair week.
If you are still needing family fun ideas, be sure to consider checking out the Iowa Adventure Pass to one of the three venues that we offer: the Blank Park Zoo, The Children’s Museum, and the Science Center. See our website for details and instructions.
Our 3:00 o’clock book club will meet on Aug. 12 to discuss “The Trouble with You.” Reads Well with Others evening book club will be discussing Jeneva Rose’s thriller “The Perfect Marriage” on Tuesday, Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. Both books are available for check out at the library.
Card making class will be Thursday, Aug. 21 from 9-11 a.m. Supplies are provided for a $5 materials fee. Cookbook Club will take a hiatus this month but will be back in September.
Please remember that Friends of the Guthrie Center Library will meet on Aug. 4 at 6:15 p.m. If you’re not already a member, this is a great time to get involved and support the library.