Tangipahoa Library opens summer reading program with Serving Saturday, visiting animals

The Tangipahoa Parish Library System ushered in the Summer Reading Program with a slate of popular programs and activities in early June that culminated with a special day, Serving Saturday, held June 3.

“Our presentations of Animal Tales at all six branches in the system held the first week in June attracted hundreds of children and their parents,” System Program Specialist Anna Thompson said. “At the Hammond and Ponchatoula Branches, the main meeting areas of the libraries were filled to capacity with visitors. This was a rousing success for the first week of our Summer Reading Program.”

About Serving Saturday, she said, “The staff designed this special day as a way to bring everyone together as a community to serve and learn about the different ways available for us to help meet each other’s needs. The theme of our Summer Reading Program is ‘All Together Now,’ and Serving Saturday was one way that we could make that theme more relevant to our many patrons enrolled in the summer program.”

At the Hammond Branch, Serving Saturday included a drive for the Tangi Food Pantry. Patrons were asked to bring a canned food item to donate to the food assistance outlet that has served the Hammond area for many years.

Ryan Clancy, the Food Pantry warehouse manager manning a table at the main entrance to the library, said there is a continuing need for food by the families who patronize the Food Pantry. He said it was especially gratifying to see children, accompanied by their parents, bringing canned goods to the drive.

A second activity during Serving Saturday involved lectures on cardiopulmonary resuscitation by Candice Whigham of Courage to Save CPR Training LLC. Whigham’s lecture introduced children and a group of adults to the necessity of knowing how to administer CPR if the occasion arises. She said the program, “It Takes Courage to Save a Life!” places emphasis on knowing how to administer CPR and having the confidence to attempt the procedure when called upon to do so.

Whigham used rubber dummies to teach CPR procedures and she had no trouble enlisting a parade of youngsters eager to try performing the procedure.

At a third station, Dawn Culbreath, of the LSU Ag Center and 4-H coordinator for Tangipahoa Parish, taught children about how seeds sprout into plants. The children were given Sprout Houses, cardboard cutouts in the shape of little houses with a plastic bag attached to the back of the house. The children were then given beans to place in the bags and instructed to moisten the beans, hang the Sprout House in a sunny spot, and watch the beans sprout.

“In about two or three days, if you keep your Sprout House moist, the beans will sprout and you can eventually plant them. You can watch the magic of how a plant has its start,” she said to the children.

John Ham, presenter of Animal Tales at the library branches, introduced the crowds of children to a variety of “creatures” from various points from around the world. Throughout the presentation he interacted with the youngsters in his audience eliciting cheers, and in a few cases shrieks of almost fear, when he introduced the various animals.`

His presentation began with the introduction of a golden-eyed tree frog from the rainforests of the Amazon. Among the special features of this species was that is very fragile, it eats bugs, and can live a relatively long life.

A beautiful bird, a red-crested touraco from the African nation of Angola, proved to be a hit with the audience. The well-behaved bird stayed perched on Ham’s arm throughout his explanation of the role that the bird plays in its habitat.

Ham saved the star of the show, a wallaby named Jack, for last. He explained that a wallaby has its place in serving humans by simply being, “very cute … they bring joy to people.” He cautioned that wallabies do not make good pets and said that he had a difficult time training Jack to perform before crowds.

With the first weeks of the Summer Reading Program in the rear view mirror Thompson said she anticipates a very successful program that promotes reading among all age groups. Library patrons who wish to register for one of the competitive reading programs can still do so. Registration will remain open until the end of July, Thompson said.

For information on upcoming programs, visit www.tangilibrary.com.