RU Kidding? 2008
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the Reading Public Library, of course!
The summer of 2008 was full of jokes, riddles and wacky adventures – not to mention funny books and just plain fun!
As children read and listened, they posted corny ears of corn, “funnybones” and chickens decorated with their names. Weekly raffles added to the fun. When children reached their reading goal, their names decorated official “jesters” which decorated the Children’s Room walls. A generous donation from the Friends of the Library translated children’s reading and listening into helping homeless children have fun. Their donation to Horizons for Homeless Children went to help support the Playspaces programs. In addition, Reading families also donated boxes and boxes of art supplies to Horizons!
A total of 74 crazy programs took place during the 10 week program with over 5000 children taking part! Some of the funny events included: Backwards Day, T-shirt Silkscreening, Steve Rudolph’s Comedy Magic, pajama storytimes, Funny Hat Week, 2 Captain Underpants Parties, Big Joe the Storyteller, Tongue Twister Contest, 2 Mad Hatter Tea Parties, Hampstead Players production of Alice in Wonderland, Elephant Joke Day, “Tickle My Funnybone” Writing Contest & Author Party, 2 Readers Theater workshops, Fox & Branch, Play with Your Food craft workshop, Ants in Your Pants Family Picnic, Vehicle Day, Mountain Mushers and Amelia Bedelia storytime at the Parker Tavern!
Back by popular demand, Reado the library mascot parrot returned this summer and “hid” in the windows of 5 downtown businesses over the course of the 10 weeks. Children were charged with finding him and reporting his location to the Children’s Room. Correct answers were eligible for various raffles. With the ongoing downtown reconstruction project, this game encouraged foot traffic to support local businesses. Nearly 600 children reported finding Reado over the course of the summer!
It was a crazy, corny summer of fun with over 15,000 hours of reading and listening reported. Happily we are NOT Kidding about that!
