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  • June and July displayers are Karen, Kaylynn and Kyle Grado who are exhibiting some of their stuffed animals to carry out the theme of "Tails and Tales" for Rhoads Memorial Library's summer reading program.
    June and July displayers are Karen, Kaylynn and Kyle Grado who are exhibiting some of their stuffed animals to carry out the theme of "Tails and Tales" for Rhoads Memorial Library's summer reading program.
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Our display case here at Rhoads Memorial Library contains plush stuffed animals, books, and a poster promoting "Tails and Tales", which is the theme of our summer reading program. Displayers for June and July are siblings Kaylynn, age 10; Kyle, age 6, and Karen Grado, age 5. Parents are Melissa and Rodrigo Grado of Dimmitt.

The number of youngsters who have signed up for our annual reading program have surpassed our lowest tally of 34, which occurred last year during the COVID-19 pandemic. While numbers have not climbed into the triple-digit range of pre-Coronavirus times, we are seeing increased participation by youngsters from Hart and Nazareth. Dimmitt's numbers are down.

We want to thank volunteers who helped with registration including Zetha Collins, Avis Smith, and Carolyn Watts. We are still accepting signups from anyone who missed the late May registration, though, and will continue to do so through June.

Terrific Tuesday's Take and Make kits provided by Felice Acker, Castro County's Family and Consumer Science Agent with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, have proven to be incredibly popular with our young readers. Last week's kit focused on birds, providing youngsters with an ice cream cone, peanut butter, birdseed, pipe cleaner, and instructions on creating a bird feeder. Consequently, many area birds are dining at the new feeders, but reports have come in that a few CHILDREN ate the feeder before birds had a chance!

These kits also contained a recipe (for humans!) in English and Spanish for Jiffy Oatmeal Crunch, a coloring page, and a fact sheet about birds of Texas. It listed, with photos, six common Texas Panhandle birds that may be seen in June and July: the common grackle, scissor-tailed flycatcher, Western kingbird, mourning dove, cliff swallow, and the rock dove.

Remember that there will be a different kit each week, provided by Mrs. Acker, arriving here by noon on Tuesdays. They will be distributed throughout the week while supplies last. Snakes are featured in this week's kit; insects will be spotlighted next week.

For adult patrons, newly released books that have arrived and are ready for checkout include:

-"Family Reunion" by Nancy Thayer. The book's blurb notes that "a longtime Nantucket resident is trying to make the best of a lonely summer. Her spirited granddaughter is learning what she wants out of life. Unforgettable surprises await them both in this magical, multigenerational novel."

-"Olympus, Texas" by Stacey Swann. Per the book's blurb: This bighearted debut novel features colorful characters, "plenty of Texas swagger, and a powder keg of a plot in which marriages struggle, rivalries flare, and secrets explode, all with a clever wink toward classical mythology."

Until next week, Happy Reading!