Last week, we completed our second in an ongoing series of "Science Friday" programs for children in grades kindergarten through eighth.
This program is designed to provide science-based educational activities for students during the days that the school is closed for teacher development. September's program featured a presentation about fire courtesy of the wonderful folks at the Durango Discover Museum, and this month's program focus was the moon.
It was truly a joy to watch the faces of the kids light up as they participated in the activities about gravity, scale, how craters are formed, the different phases of the moon, and the revolution of the moon around the Earth.
The library makes an effort to support the Mancos School District in many different ways. The high school and middle school do not have a library of their own, so we act as the "ad hoc" library for both.
We host visits from various classes regularly, helping students find reading material for personal interests, research materials, or other resources for a variety of projects. We also work closely with teachers to bring in resources to enhance or support curriculum. The Mancos Public Library also supports students participating in online classes, providing laptops and Internet access to help them complete their courses.
We host a variety of after-school programs. Each Monday we show a different family movie, on Wednesdays we have "Gaming Daze" where the kids have the chance to play video and board games with their friends, and every Tuesday and Thursday is "Outdoor Adventures" - an experiential program that teaches children to explore, build, hike, create and work together in a kid-centered community in the outdoors.
It has always been the mission of the library to support our schools and to help the educational development of all ages of our community's youth.
Our "Science Friday" program is just another way that we are helping to fill a need in our community and we hope all children will attend.
Our next event will be "Cold Exposure: Testing Animal Design" on Nov. 11, for specific times and additional details please call the library at 533-7600.
Lee Hallberg is executive director of the Mancos Public Library. Reach her at 533-7600.