Feature Story

The Dakota County Library has many events in the summer and perks for people of all ages. The library offers a fun and sometimes free activities for everyone who wants to join in. There are specific events for children, teens, and adults 55 and older.
Children have the most events to occupy their summer. They can join the reading club which is “a great way for kids to keep up their school education in the summer months”, says children’s librarian Lillian Austen. The kids who join fill out a chart showing how many hours they read and when they turn it into the volunteers it gets moved along the wall. The goal is to make it to the top, around 100 hours of reading during the summer, to get the prize. Children can also join an art contest. They draw and color the most creative picture they can, and if they are lucky they can win a prize! The last activity I learned about is the poetry contest. Kids write their best poem, teaming up with parents or older siblings to help with spelling and grammar. Whoever writes the best and most creative poem gets the prize. These are just three of the activities offered to children during the summer months.
Teens also have a wide selection of activities offered to them during the summer. Although reading for fun isn’t as popular as laying on the beach, teenagers are invited to join the summer reading club. For many teens this is “a popular activity for the hot, hot, days when you just want to stay in the air conditioning,” says young adult librarian Joshua Pace. It also pleases mom and dad when you do something other than become a zombie in front of the television. Another activity offered to teenagers is the poetry contest. It is just like the kids poetry contest, except you aren’t allowed to team up with your parents. These are a few of the activities offered to teens to occupy their time during the summer.
There are also some activities offered to people ages 55 and older. They can join a book discussion group. The adults pick a book and when they decide get together and talk about what they have read and how it relates to their lives today. This is a great way to make new friends and find books to recommend to your friends. The other activity offered to adults is the poetry contest. This contest works exactly like the teen poetry contest. Adults create the best poem they can and the winner receives the prize. These are a couple of the activities offered to adults during the summer months.
Many perks are also offered to library members of all ages. The computers at the library are free for anyone to use and have internet so you can surf the web all you want. For teenagers they offer the volunteen program. Teens help the kids who come in with their reading club sheets and finding books. Teens can also check out video games, so they don’t have to spend all of their hard earned money. The last perk for teenagers is teen e-news. You submit your email address and the library will send you the dates of upcoming events. These are all “great ways for teens to be more involved in their library,” says volunteer coordinator Mary Meyer. The last volunteer opportunity is for adults. You can adopt-a-shelf and once a week come in and keep it neat. This way everyone can find what they are looking for right away.