In its first year serving all county residents, the Moniteau County Library's summer reading program has experienced significant growth in youth participation.
Participants received tickets for checking out books and attending programs associated with this year's theme, "A Universe of Stories."
At the library board meeting, Library Director Connie Walker reported 4,981 checkouts and 1,882 program participants for the month of June.
"This is the largest monthly checkout since I've been here for 10 years," Walker said. "We checked out 4,981 items. This was the largest number for juvenile and (easy-read) ever checked out in the history of the library. It's our greatest attendance of programs during June. We made 44 new library cards, and we feel our partnerships with the schools really contributed to these statistics."
A collaboration with summer school programs at California, Jamestown, High Point and Latham allowed 335 children to check out books and attend programs.
Local camps and daycares also brought groups to the library regularly.
Tracking the growth of the program back to 2012, Walker said numbers since then have nearly doubled. The reading program will end July 26, after which a prize plaza will open where participants can cash in their earned tickets July 29-Aug. 3. Participants earn 50 cents per book read and $1 for attending library programs, which is then converted into tickets for them to spend on prizes.
Staff members anticipate going over the $2,000 budgeted for prizes, based on high participation. Walker said this is because the board did not originally anticipate the prize plaza also serving participants from area schools when setting the prize budget.
Items like sidewalk chalk, games, backpacks, boogie boards and balls will be available. Walker said these incentives are a big part of what makes the summer reading program a success.
Library board members agreed an additional $1,480 in the budget, which was set aside for program use, could be spent on prizes if needed.
The summer reading program is partly funded by a $7,000 Library Service and Technology Act grant through Missouri State Libraries. Based on the county population, this is the maximum amount of funding available.
Each year, the program has expanded. Library assistant Heidi Porter said she began planning activities last year, and the community support has been overwhelming.
"I thought we had a great turnout last summer, but this summer has far surpassed all the numbers that we had," Porter said. "Seeing the community support the library by bringing their children to all the events and to check out books so that they can earn tickets has been so great."
A "Back to the Moon" program in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon took place July 20.
Solar System Ambassador Joy Johnson helped 17 youth, accompanied by 10 adults, build rovers and landers.
A Jefferson City resident, Johnson was inspired by NASA's work after witnessing several launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
On Saturday afternoon, Johnson told the News Tribune the activities are a way for the students to understand the basics of engineering design and "for kids to know the process that NASA goes through, designing the different land rovers and moon landers."
Johnson is also a science teacher for the South Callaway R-2 School District. She said she enjoys sharing space with the public and teaching children.
"This is my first year as an ambassador, and I am having a blast," Johnson said. "The knowledge I gained from the webinars and other resources available to ambassadors made me a better educator."