Laurin Linscott has bugs in her office, but she\u2019s not complaining.<\/p>\n
Linscott is the head children\u2019s librarian at Kent Regional Library, 212 Second Ave. N., and she\u2019s gearing up for the library\u2019s summer reading program, titled \u201cCatch the Reading Bug.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited. I think it\u2019s going to be a great summer,\u201d said Linscott, pushing aside a ladybug-shaped basket to reach the summer-program leaflets.<\/p>\n
The program starts June 16, and runs through the end of August at all King County Library System branches. It includes a reading-rewards program, library activities and \u2013 in Kent \u2013 a bookmark-design contest.<\/p>\n
Reading for fun<\/p>\n
The main element of the library\u2019s summer agenda is a reading-rewards program for children. The program asks children in kindergarten through elementary school to record how long they spend reading, as well as which books they read. The goal is 1,000 minutes before Aug. 31.<\/p>\n
At 500 minutes, readers can come in to claim their halfway prize: a coupon for a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. At 1,000 minutes, they\u2019ve earned the finisher prize: a pair of Summer Reading binoculars.<\/p>\n
Those who finish the 1,000 minutes before Aug. 31 can also enter a drawing for a new laptop computer. The KCLS Foundation has three laptops to give away, one each for its northern, central and southern regions of libraries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have done (the laptop giveaway) before, and it\u2019s very, very popular with the children, even first graders,\u201d Linscott said.<\/p>\n
Preschoolers on board<\/p>\n
KCLS has added a new component to the summer program this year \u2014 a reading-reward program designed specifically for preschoolers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is sort of exciting,\u201d said Linscott of the preschool program. \u201cBefore, preschoolers would do (the reading program), but it was really geared toward older kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new preschool summer-reading program features a Summer Reading Game, meant for preschoolers and parents to complete together.<\/p>\n
The \u201cgame board\u201d contains 18 honeycomb-shaped spaces, each with the outline of an insect. To fill the board, parents and their preschoolers must do a number of different activities, from reading 20 minutes a day (ladybug spaces) to acting out stories or dancing (ants), to trying new words or alphabet activities (bee).<\/p>\n
By the time they fill in the game board, parents will have read at least 160 minutes to their little one, in addition to the other activities.<\/p>\n
Preschoolers who complete their game board can come in to the library for their prize: a special KCLS edition of \u201cOn Beyond Bugs! All About Insects\u201d by Tish Rabe.<\/p>\n
Summer fun<\/p>\n
To complement the reading program, the Kent Library will offer a number of events throughout June, July and August.<\/p>\n
The kick-off event will be \u201cLa Cucaracha,\u201d a Spanish\/English series of songs and stories about insects, presented by Marco Cortes at 2 p.m. June 21.<\/p>\n
Other highlights of the summer include \u201cCatchy Tunes and Jumping Jokes,\u201d featuring former Disney Channel performer Gary Lapow; an \u201cInsect Safari\u201d with entomologist Don Ehlen; a shadow theater production of \u201cThumbelina\u201d; and weekly bug-themed story times.<\/p>\n
Summer reading-program events wrap up with a finale party Aug. 9 at the Kent Library. Everyone who participated in the summer reading program is welcome to drop in during the party to enjoy games, snacks and live entertainment.<\/p>\n
Bookmark contest<\/p>\n
In addition to the reading program and bug-themed events, the Kent Library also will play host to a bookmark design contest. Children ages 6 to 18 can design bookmarks reflecting the summer theme, \u201cCatch the Reading Bug,\u201d and turn in their designs by Aug. 31 for the chance to win prizes. Bookmark-contest forms are available at the Kent Library.<\/p>\n
Children and parents can pick up booklets at the library containing a reading log, a bug-themed suggested reading list and reading contest rules starting June 16.<\/p>\n
For more details, call 253-859-3330 or visit www.kcls.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Laurin Linscott has bugs in her office, but she\u2019s not complaining.
\nLinscott is the head children\u2019s librarian at Kent Regional Library, 212 Second Ave. N., and she\u2019s gearing up for the library\u2019s summer reading program, titled \u201cCatch the Reading Bug.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":13439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13438"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=13438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}