THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE LAKE ANDES LIBRARY

The Lake Andes Public Library is a bright and colorful place far from the days of an old, mildewy, musty building full of just books. These days, the Lake Andes Public Library is a hub of activity, constantly full of kids enjoying all that the library has to offer. One of the most important aspects of the library is the safe space that it offers for both children and adults to explore their reading interests. The library also offers services that cannot be found other places in town such as free WIFI and eight public computers that have printing capabilities. In addition to the summer reading program, librarian, Mary Jo Parker, offers different activities for every day of the week. Mondays are food and fun days. Tuesdays the focus is on gardening whether it creating a three sisters garden or learning about plants that help butterflies and bees. Wednesday is a craft day where Mary Jo has a different craft for each age level which includes beading, macrame, string art, painting, crocheting, etc. Thursdays are the K-5 STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Mary Jo comes up with different projects geared toward different age groups. One example of a project would be having the kids build a macaroni tower to try to get it to hold different objects. Finally on Friday the focus is on physical activity. The kids have organized games of Red Rover and the library has an entire closet dedicated to physical activity equipment including gloves, balls, skateboards, safety equipment, etc funded through their Well-Connected Communities grant. There is never a dull moment at the Lake Andes Library with endless possibilities of activities and skills to be learned.