Ticket to Tomorrow

The computers are quiet.! All signs of "Ticket to Tomorrow" are gone! summer reading program has ended!. It has been a busy summer with over 3,200 children participating in the children's services section summer reading program. Prizes were given to each child who read books and participated in the program.

There have been a number of firsts this summer. Drawings were added to the summer reading program to encourage children to visit the library and read books. Each time a child visited the library to participate in the reading program, they were given an opportunity to enter their name in the drawings. The most popular drawings were for a set of four Harry Potter books and a Harry Potter t- shirt. Weekly prize drawings included books and stuffed animals.

Another "first" was a pilot summer reading program at the Janet Berry School. Members of the Friends of Appleton Library Children's Committee, library staff, and school administration met to plan an outreach site for the summer reading program. The library provided volunteers to play reading games with students and the supplies for the program. Incentives for the program were provided by a grant from Friends of Appleton Library. The school agreed to provide the facility and the book collection. The goal was to have 20 children participate in the program at the Janet Berry School--We had Over 50 children.

Another first was a partnership with the Post Crescent to provide a weekly ad promoting the Tuesday morning storytimes conducted by WROE radio morning show host Chuck Lakefield. Over 130 children attended each weekly storytime.

Over 450 school age children and their families attended the Tuesdays in July programs sponsored by the Appleton Library Foundation FOAL Endowment Fund. Programs included a Wisconsin musician, a professional spoon man playing spoons and a puppeteer. FOAL also sponsored two appearances by Tom Pease to kick off the summer reading program that were attended by approximately 800 children. Storytimes were conducted on Monday evenings to provide programming for working parents and video programs are scheduled on Wednesday mornings in August. The section also presented storytimes for daycare providers on Wednesdays in July. The number of daycare providers who have brought children to the library to participate in the reading program and weekly storytimes has increased significantly this year.