MOUNT VERNON — A much-needed update to the storytime reading room at the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County is being financed by the sale of tote bags.
“We are putting in a new rug and new wallpaper,” said Debbie Baker, director of youth services at the library. “We have already ordered the rug.”
The reading room, which is located on the children’s section on the second floor of the library, has not been updated since a major library renovation was done about 20 years ago. Throughout the years, the room has held up well while hosting thousands of children, but time does take a toll.
“It needs a little freshening up,” Baker explained. “There’s been a lot of wear and tear from the kids over the years. So we want to do something a little brighter for them. There wasn’t money in [the library’s] improvement fund so we are doing it ourselves.”
The work is being entirely funded through the sales of the tote bags and the impending sale of a donated quilt. The bags were purchased blank and were decorated by staff members.
“We find different designs we like and paint them on the bags,” Baker explained. “We will also have the help of one of our patrons, Fern Harvey, who will be donating a quilt she and her quilting club made.”
The reading room has been used more and more in the last couple of years.
“We do story telling for 2s and 3s and preschoolers and kindergartners and baby storyland,” Baker explained. “And it’s part of our after-school and weekend programs for elementary schoolers and teenagers. There’s been a big increase in 2- and 3-year-olds this year, so we’ve added another storytime for them.”
Baker said that starting next week there will be three storytimes for 2- and 3-year-olds, and three storytimes for preschoolers and kindergartners.
“Then we will do one big storyland a week,” Baker said. “And once a month we will be doing something called Third Thursdays, which is kind of like our old program called Wacky Wednesdays. We do this for third- through fifth-graders.”
Third Thursday will begin with what Baker calls Take Apart Day.
“We will have a whole slew of old household appliances that don’t work anymore, with the plugs cut off,” Baker explained. “We’ll let them have pliers and screwdrivers and let them take apart things. Kids find that very interesting.”
The library also has a video game club for teenagers, and holds video game tournaments. There is also a young adult advisory board that meets once a month to help plan programs for teens and make book selections.
“This whole bag project was the brainchild of Debbie Farson, my assistant,” Baker explained. “And she is very, very artistic. She had this idea and we have been painting feverishly. And we do custom orders, too.”
The renovation project, which includes repainting the children’s playroom, will begin after the current program, which ends around Thanksgiving, is finished. Work is expected to be finished by January. The new rug has been ordered.
For more information about purchasing a tote bag or the quilt raffle, call 392-2665, ext. 248.
