Cool in the pool
The South Central Regional Library Altona branch hosted a pool party at the Altona Aquatic Centre Aug. 14 to celebrate another successful summer reading program.
About 100 children and teens attended the free event, which was sponsored by the Altona Elks. There were door prizes and lots of smiles as the group enjoyed a fun-filled hour at the pool.
This year’s theme for the Bookland Explorers Summer Reading Club was Under the Sea. Branch administrator Rachael Friesen explained that participants were divided into two teams, with either a jellyfish or an octopus as their mascot.
“The teams competed against each other for the most minutes. And they also logged their minutes for a chance to buy prizes or win a grand prize. There were also daily activities.”
Participants followed a map, with the goal to get their mascots to 2,000 hours of reading. In the end, Team Jellyfish won with 2,150 hours, though Team Octopus was not far behind, posting 2,040. This year’s program culminated in grand prize draws at the branch on Aug.17.
“The main idea is to get everybody to continue reading over the summer,” Friesen said. “This year we also did a teen program across all five branches. Across the region, we had 181 teens participate, which was amazing.”
There were a total of 181 participants of all ages at the Altona Branch alone this year, including 40 teens.
Cameron Toews was this summer’s coordinator for the program.
“I absolutely loved it. It was a really exciting summer, and we had great participation. I loved doing crafts and activities with everyone. It was very busy, but just so fun. Everyone loved the Under the Sea theme, and I was happy to see such a big number of teens involved as well. It was fantastic, and I’d love to be involved again next year.”
