Furry, feathery and scaly creatures visit book club

  • Published
  • By Johathan Rejent
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base --  A bearded dragon, an alligator and half a dozen native and exotic animals, along with more than 60 book club participants, spent their afternoon at the library June 10.

Volunteers from the ABQ BioPark Zoo brought a variety of animals to share with "A Midsummer Knight's
Read," the Kirtland Air Force Base Library's summer reading club.

Through July 22, Friday afternoons from 1-2 p.m. at the library will be filled with a variety of activities for participants in the reading club.

From listening to Korean fairy tales while tasting foods native to that country, to viewing live sword-fighting demonstrations, the activities will provide educational entertainment for everyone involved.

Although the reading club began June 3, Marla Shin, reference librarian, said it is not too late to sign up.

The club has three age categories -- preschool through five; six through eight; and nine through 18 -- and is awarding prizes to those who read the most books.

Karen Keene, supervisory librarian, said graphic novels, audiobooks and ebooks all count toward the total number of books read. For free e-book databases, she encourages participants to check out Military One- Source and TumbleBooks or visit the library for more information.

For children who have not yet developed their reading skills, parents can read to them and log the book titles.
Those interested can sign up at the library, where they will be given a gift bag, complete with a reading log.

At the end of the program, participants' books will be tallied; the top three readers from each age group will receive Barnes and Noble gift certificates. Throughout the program, participants will also be awarded a prize provided by the Department of Defense for every 10 books read.
For participants who will not be able to make it to final activity day July 22 when prizes are handed out, Ms.
Shin said there is no need to worry.

"If they've turned in their reading log before the end of the program, they're in," she said.

For more information, call the library at 846-1071.