Rib Lake Public Library plans ‘Let’s Read Together’ open house for April 2
Rib Lake Public Library is throwing a “Let’s Read Together” open-house celebration on April 2, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The library, along with their partner library in Tomahawk, recently received the 2019-2020 Wisconsin Valley Library Service Innovation and Collaboration Literacy Grant. With their share of the grant, Rib Lake overhauled a large portion of their library by creating a Family Literacy Center.
There will be numerous engaging family activities at the open-house, including play kits, number kits, and nature games, with reading, music, and snacks available.
There will also be toys, animal puppets, and play-doh for children to play with.
Also newly installed and available for use is a music wall, with a selection of instruments that kids can play with.
A section of one wall had a large mural painted across it.
The mural was painted by artist and author Alise Swan of Swan Hill Creates, located in Ogema.
The mural centers around the theme of education, with five key categories of learning written across it in both English and Spanish.
The five categories are read, write, talk, play, and sing Five animals are painted on the mural, each corresponding with each one of the five education categories: an owl for read, a raccoon for write, a squirrel for talk, a fox for play, and a frog for sing.
Many of the puzzle games are bilingual as well, with hopes that kids start picking up extra language skills.
“I wanted to make sure everyone felt comfortable here,” said Krista Blomberg, assistant director at Rib Lake Public Library. “There’s a pretty big hispanic community here, and I wanted to make sure they’re included.”
The large amount of English and Spanish words also aims to teach monolingual English-speaking children Spanish.
There will be a time lapse video on the progress of painting the mural from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. During this time the library staff will also discuss the grant they received and talk a bit about how they transformed the learning space.
In addition to the new learning games, mural, and music wall, new chairs and cushions were also purchased with the grant money, creating a more comfortable space for children to learn in.
