When the temperatures soar, one good way to cool off is to find a shady spot and dive into a good book.
The Bloomfield Public Library is all geared up to make finding that book fun and enjoyable with a full slate of kid-friendly activities at the library throughout June and July.
This year’s theme is “The Adventure Begins at Your Library.” Monday’s kickoff event included games, free water and pizza, face-painting, a bouncy house, and kid-type celebrities such as Smokey Bear and Blue Bear from Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Vera McGrath hopes all this fun will help to make the Bloomfield Library and Cultural Center a magnet for the community and the community’s children. McGrath is the director of the Bloomfield Public Library and Cultural Center. She began as a Children’s Librarian in January. “A week into that I became the interim director, and then a month later I was the director,” she said.
Born and raised in South Africa, she has an uncle and aunt living in Albuquerque who suggested she go there to get her master’s degree in education at the University of New Mexico. “So that’s what I did,” she said. She met her husband in Durango, and they recently settled into a house in Aztec.
She has goals for the library and cultural center.
“I would like to turn this into a youth-centered building, just totally cater to the community and the children of the Bloomfield community,” she said.
McGrath believes that the library had a drop-off in visitors since the COVID lockdowns. Technology also is a factor for fewer in-person visits to the library. “With technology now, and being able to get books and audio books and everything off your phone, we get less and less people in the library,” she said.
Plans have been made to address that.
“I am hoping with more programming, and more programming catered toward children, we are going to see an uptick of the community coming through,” she said.
The activity-filled summer reading program should be a draw, said Stacey York, assistant children’s librarian. There is an activity scheduled each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday through all June and July.
In addition to prizes being awarded for minutes spent reading throughout the summer, activities include a host of special visitors to the library, including the Bloomfield Fire Department presenting a program on fire safety, a visit from a magician, a yo-yo performer, and a performance of African drums by San Juan Community College.
Kids can register for prizes for reading and can find a full schedule of activities at the Bloomfield Public Library. The activities schedule is also posted on the Bloomfield Public Library Facebook page.
York is very enthusiastic about the upcoming schedule. She has been assistant children’s librarian since mid-April. A CASA volunteer for the past 15 years, York has a passion for working with kids.
“It’s a fun job. I don’t really think of it as a job. I make crafts, I read stories, we have activities, who wouldn’t want to do activities with kids?” she said.
The end-of-summer reading party is scheduled for July 23 and will have a water park theme.
The Bloomfield Public Library hours are: Monday-Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, Saturday and Sunday closed. For information, call the library at (505) 632-8315.
