Juggling, Jokes and Encouragement to Read (Video)

What do you get when you cross two jugglers with a kickoff to a summer reading program?

Just a fun event for the children to kick start a summer of loving books.

And that was the scene Thursday at the when the Gizmo Guys helped jump start the annual reading program that brought about 30 kids ages three and up to the building.

"This is promotional for children of all ages," said Rebecca Crawford, library youth services department head. "The jugglers bring attention to the program, and give the community something to do, bring families together."

Children, and adults alike, enjoyed the performance that included juggling, hat tosses, Chinese yo-yos and the art of juggling ping pong balls out of their mouths as the Gizmo Guys had everyone laughing and playing along.

"This is entertaining," said Bridgewater resident Lynette Lapola, who brought her kids to the event. "It's a group of kids together, and my daughter is getting to communicate with other kids before she enters preschool in the fall."

And Manville resident Pauline Michael said her children love the programs at the library.

"These programs are fun and educational," she said.

But the main purpose of the event was to kick off the library's annual summer reading program, which is broken into four different categories for young children and teens.

Registration for the program, Crawford said, began June 20 and will continue throughout the summer. There are four clubs, she said, one for children from infants to fifth grade and a second for teens entering sixth grade through 12th grade.

Crawford said there are also two virtual clubs for those same age ranges.

"We encourage children to read or be read to, and they keep track of the books," she said. "And we give prizes after so many books read or minutes of reading."

"We are encouraging children to read anything they are interested in, even magazines and comic books," she added.

For the children clubs, including the virtual one Crawford said, they will be recording how many minutes of reading they do. Then, they bring their logs to the library and show them to the librarians for chances to receive prizes.

For example, Crawford said, 100 minutes of reading equals entrance into a raffle and 500 minutes is a free book or item from the prize box. 

For the teens, they will be required to log titles of books, and there are also raffles and prizes after so many books read.

Those children participating in the virtual programs, Crawford said, record their minutes and books in the same ways, only online, and there are fewer opportunities for prizes because they are not actually going in to the library.

"They can log on to the virtual library and write reviews of the books," she said.

Crawford said there will also be prizes for answering trivia questions, and there will be fun facts based on the themes for the program: "One World, Many Stories" for the children, and "You Are Here" for the teens.

The prizes themselves, Crawford said, come from vendors and there will be grand prizes at the end—a Wii for the teens and a stuffed tiger for the children.

At this point, Crawford said, 1,000 children have signed up for the program, and 260 teens are ready to go.

"But they can register all summer long until [the program ends on] Sept. 6," she said.

The program itself, Crawford said, is just an annual way to get children and teens reading and learning.

"This gives them the joy of reading and encourages a love of books," she said. "It's also a way to learn their own interests, and to expand on their own interests."

For more information about the program, and other upcoming events to support the program, visit the library's website.