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The Longmont Library has many groups for local youth. It offers storytime events for infants through school-aged children and teen and tween activities. However, librarians saw they were missing a group, the young elementary-aged kids.
First and second graders are often too old to enjoy the storytime groups but not quite ready for the teens and tween activities. So the library created two groups just for this age group.
Residents who fall in this age group can sign up for the Mythical Creatures Club or the Pika’s Sweets group — which has already sold out this time around.
The Pika’s Sweets group is a youth cooking club that teaches kids how to make desserts that do not require the use of a stove.
“We both thought that desserts would be fun for the kids, and would involve little necessity for a stove, allowing the kids to really do most of the work and enjoy the hands-on aspect,” said Co-leaders Kirsten Kochheiser and Fatima Herrera.
The Mythical Creatures Club was inspired by the questions asked by children in this age group, Kochheiser said.
“Working in the Children and Teen department, we get a lot of questions on mythological literature and creatures like mermaids. Given the high interest in these topics, I thought it might be fun to create a club specifically designed to teach participants about the creatures from mythology and folklore, including how many of these creatures came to be well known,” she said.
The Mythical Creatures Club will not only explore how these creatures came to be known but will also look at how they are viewed in different cultures.
“The purpose of this activity will be to teach the kids about different cultures and how the mythical creatures they know, have many different variations to them,” Kochheiser said.
“We wanted to offer these age groups a chance to connect with their peers, explore, learn new things, and have fun at the Library with a club of their own,” said Claire Studholme, children and teen services manager at the Longmont Library.
