CELEBRATE LIBRARIES!
SANTA FE PUBLIC LIBRARY KICKS OFF SUMMER READING
WITH A SOUTHSIDE LIBRARY PLAZA FAIR ON MAY 20
May 20, the Southside Library will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with a Plaza Fair! The free Plaza Fair will open at 11:00 am to the music of Mariachis Buenaventura followed by a welcome from Mayor Javier Gonzales and City Councilors.
The event will go from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. Over 25 non-profits serving the community will have booths at the Plaza Fair! This special day will be celebrated with activities for children, information from local agencies for adults, music, and special guest Randi’s Reptiles will be in the Community Room. Dahlia Cummings will do a special Books & Babies program. Also performing will be Wise Fool, Mariachis Azteca and EMI ARTE Flamenco dancers. MakerSpace will be there to join in the creative day! Sparky the Firedog mascot and a fire truck will be on site.
Other booths will include the Botanic Gardens, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, United Way, Somos Un Pueblo Unido, the Museum of Art, Earth Care, 1 Santa Fe, Chainbreakers, Friends of the Library, Food Oasis, La Familia and the Farmers’ Market..
Food will be a part of this festival. Everything in the Plaza Fair will be free!
The generous sponsors of the Southside Library Plaza Fair include Dairy Queen, Genoveva Chavez Community Center, the Botanic Gardens, Sprouts, 1 Santa Fe, the Brindle Foundation and the Friends of the Library.
The ever popular Summer Reading Program kicks off at the May 20 Plaza Fair. Children will be able to sign up for this year’s Summer Reading Program during the event. This year’s Summer Reading Program theme is “Build a Better World.” The performances presented during the Summer Reading Program will explore that theme using songs, stories, and other methods. The crafts programs will feature building structures using ones imagination.
Can’t make it to the Kickoff event? Registration for the Summer Reading Program is available at all three Santa Fe Public Libraries through July 15. The Summer Reading Program registration and all events are free. Prizes are given after each week of reading, starting on May 30. Children may enter for the grand prize drawing of a bicycle after the third week of reading. The Grand Prize drawing and other drawings will be held at the end of the Summer Reading Program during parties at all three locations. The program is open to children up to the age of 12.
Special sponsors of the Summer Reading Program include Dairy Queen, the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, Friends of the Library, McDonalds, Applebee’s, the Botanical Gardens and the Santa Fe Century.
What do you do when you join the Summer Reading Program? Read books or have them read to you! Attend special performances and participate in arts and crafts activities! It is a great time to explore personal areas of interest, everything from ghosts to the sciences, how-to books, and great stories.
For the parents: Numerous studies have proven that active participation in summer reading prevents reading loss, not only for the youth reading on their own, it includes the children you read to. Reading loss is cumulative and children who do not read during the summer may be left behind when school starts again.
The month of July brings us the end of the Summer Reading Program with parties for participants, starting on July 21. Books and Babies will be on hiatus from July 11 through July 20, starting up again on July 25 and going through the month of August. Preschool Story Time will be held during the whole month of July and on hiatus during the month of August.
Participation in the Summer Reading events is available to all families and children whether one joins the program or not. Stop in at the Main Library, La Farge Branch, or the Southside Branch for more information.
Check out the calendar on our website at www.santafelibrary.org.