Tangipahoa Library kicks off summer reading program with cookies and comics

The Tangipahoa Parish Library system kicked off its Summer Reading Program, themed “All Together Now,” with Cookies and Comics Day on May 6 at its six branches.

Each branch gave away free cookies and comic books, and offered various activities for patrons.

Rain showers throughout most of the day put a damper on attendance at most of the branches, but the children and their parents still found their way to the libraries to participate in an annual event. 

At the Hammond Branch, children learned of the importance of teamwork during a story time at midmorning that started the day’s activities. Following the storytime, children enjoyed playing games and interacting with one another while munching on cookies and choosing favorite comic books.

Anna Thompson, Children’s Program specialist for the library system, greeted a steady stream of youngsters who attended.

“Our Cookies and Comics Day was our way of opening the library to a day of fun and at the same time introducing our extensive summer reading program. We started signing up participants for the program and this is always a special time for our library branches and our staff,” she said.

Thompson said the summer program challenges “children, teens and adults to read as many books as they can during the program, which will last from May 30 through July 31. Participants at all levels can win prizes for reading books and participating in the special activities that we will be offering. Today, Cookies and Comics Day, is only the start of what we believe will be an exciting summer at the library branches.”

Kaycee Widmer, who brought her five children to the library program, said she appreciated the opportunity to introduce children to what the library has to offer. For example, she was teaching two of her children how to play dominoes on an electronic game table that the library makes available for its patrons.

Two other children, Sterling and Adalene Barras, said they enjoyed picking out their favorite comic books while they munched on chocolate chip cookies.

Thompson said this summer’s reading program will feature performances by Animal Tales; Miss Kim’s Petting Zoo; The Poprocks, a guitar duo who tell stories, jokes and employ audience interaction; and The True Mission Matters Project, a dance and music presentation.

The Summer Reading Program will be divided into four age groups: birth to age 6; ages 7-11; tweens and teens ages 12-17; and adults, ages 18 and up.

For the first two children’s groups, three levels of competition are offered with prizes awarded for each level. For the teen program, participants must read for 1,080 minutes. Those who complete this requirement will receive an invitation to the Awards Day Party.

Teens who read for 20 minutes a day will receive a prize raffle ticket for every 20 minutes they read. Those who sign up for the competition can track their minutes through the website, tangilibrary.com and follow the link to the Summer Reading Program.

Adults who register for the Summer Reading Program are asked to write a book review for each book they read. When adults register for the program, they will receive a tote bag, and for every book review submitted, they will get an entry in the drawing for a gift basket.

To register for the Summer Reading Program, visit any of the branches or visit the website at tangilibary.com.

In addition to Hammond the library system has branches in Amite, Independence, Loranger, Kentwood and Ponchatoula.