Staff at the Dell Rapids Carnegie Library have been providing programs and services in an online format over the last couple of weeks. One of the most popular programs offered during that time has been the story times.
“They have been going really well. It’s been a lot of fun to share some stories with the kids. We’ve done story time for younger kids, and then we did a series of chapter books for older kids, and then we’ve been doing Harry Potter readings for anybody who wanted to listen. They’ve been pretty well attended,” said staff member Kinsey Griffin. Dell Rapids Library Director Brittany Moeller mentioned that they’ve had families watch the story time videos from all over the country.
The library staff will continue their flexibility and great ideas to bring content to the community during the summer for their 2020 Summer Reading Program.
“Normally we have all of our programming in the library building and we’ll see hundreds of kids a day, and this year we can’t do that. All of our programs will be online, so they will be on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. We have put together a whole calendar which has been on Facebook,” said Moeller. (Click here for library Facebook page) “We’ve got virtual theme camps and story times. We’ve got adult book clubs, crafts and games, creative writing classes, really something for everyone.” Moeller also mentioned that all the videos throughout the summer for the story times, crafts, games, and classes will remain online after they are done live. That way if anyone can’t join when the event is being held live, they can go back and watch the video and do those events whenever it’s convenient for them.
The Summer Reading Program will also be tracked online this year. Starting on Monday, June 1st, people will be able to register on “Read Squared.” The library will post a link to that website on their Facebook page. The Read Squared service also has a free app that compatible with any device.
“So you register online and track your reading online instead of the little paper sheets that we normally give out. That’s probably going to be the big change for all of us to get used to, is everything is online. It’s very easy to do though. It’s very user friendly, and it’s fun. There are little mini games in there. There’s book reviews in there,” Moeller mentioned.
Also starting on Monday, June 1st, the library will have curbside check-out available for the public. Folks can reserve items through the online catalog or call the library. Staff will put everything in a bag. Once someone gets to the library, just call, and a staff member will bring the bag outside. One thing about the delivery is that the staff cannot bring it directly to the car, but will have to leave the bag on the sidewalk or stairs to be retrieved. For instructions on how to browse the online catalog, click here for the video.
One more fun thing the library is doing is putting together “Swag bags”. The bags are for kids who would like to do the crafts and games put together by the library. The crafts and games will both be held on Wednesdays, with crafts in the morning and games in the afternoons.
“They’re going to have all that you will need for the month of June to make all of crafts that we’re going to make, and to play the games we’re going to play,” said Griffin.
More information on when the bags will be able to be picked up will be released by the library soon.
Full Interview with Brittney and Kinsey: