At Northside Library was a display of five colorful rings to lightly mimic the five connected rings that has become a symbol for the Olympics. Children threw foam toys through the rings for sport while they celebrated Northside Library’s June 4 Summer Reading Kickoff. About 1,000 people attended.
“The Olympics are held this year in Rio and so our theme is North-lympics,” says Cheryl Lee, library branch manager and program coordinator. “Every year the library celebrates a kickoff for our summer reading program and we want to encourage everyone to participate and read.”
Magician Steve Koehler made the audience laugh with tricks, such as juggling and pulling a long wad of paper out of his mouth. Young audience volunteers pulled unexpected items out of a bag and assisted during a balloon trick.
Next, Julie Cardoza of Happy Birds mesmerized the audience with her pet parrots. The birds showed off their talents, which included singing “Clementine,” riding a miniature bicycle, roller skating and inserting coins in a piggy bank. At the end of her presentation, Cardoza invited audience members who had signed up for the summer reading program to greet a few of her parrots.
Kate Chua, 8, was one of the lucky audience members who got to handle a parrot.
“I thought the bird was going to be heavy but it was actually light and felt ticklish and feathery,” Chua says.
Minjal Agarwal brought her toddler daughter to the Summer Reading Kickoff.
“At the magic show, I liked the balloon tricks because they were funny to watch,” Agarwal says. “The bird show was awesome. I loved the tricks the birds did. I liked seeing a bird roller skate. What I learned from that presentation was that those birds can live for a very long time.”
After the bird show, the children gravitated to the front of the library and created bubbles from small pools of soapy water and big wands.
This summer, the Santa Clara City Library will offer an abundance of activities for adults and children in conjunction with its reading program. Adult programs at Central Park Library will include movies and culinary workshops on fast and healthy summer cuisine. Central Park Library will also offer children’s programs such as music-themed family fun nights on Mondays at the Central Park Pavilion and Family KEVA Club meetings on Fridays for aspiring architects, artists and engineers. At the Northside Library will be STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs and a daddy-daughter dance. At the Mission Library, there will be a Wednesday Lego Club and an opportunity to meet San Jose Giants baseball players.
Central Park Library will host its Summer Reading Kickoff on June 11 from 1-4 p.m. with crafts and games. At 2 p.m. entertainer Tony Borders will perform an animal-themed show with puppets and magic tricks.