Worm Day promotes reading

Clark County Public Library event tries to create lifetime readers.
Josiah Botello, 8, cheers for his worm as it slithers to victory during the worm races at the Clark County Public Library’s Enon branch Wednesday. The worm races were part of the library’s Worm Day activities designed to engage kids in reading through different activities. Bill Lackey/Staff

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

Josiah Botello, 8, cheers for his worm as it slithers to victory during the worm races at the Clark County Public Library’s Enon branch Wednesday. The worm races were part of the library’s Worm Day activities designed to engage kids in reading through different activities. Bill Lackey/Staff

Worms might sometimes serve as bait for fishing, but on Wednesday they were used to lure children into books and reading.

As part of the summer reading program, the Clark County Public Library held Worm Day. This year’s theme for the summer reading program is “dig into reading.”

“The overall goal is to bring individuals into the library; it’s more than just books on the shelf, it’s a community center,” said Jane Cross, librarian assistant.

The program started at 10:30 a.m. with “wiggle worm” story time. The stories included “Diary of a Worm” and “Piggy and Dad Go Fishing.” The story time was focused on children ages 5-9.

Following story time was the song “Walter the Waltzing Worm,” which offered children a dance with yarn worms to get used to them.

For snack time, worm burgers were made. The burgers were made from vanilla wafers that were used as the bun, then they had the option between vanilla or chocolate frosting as the dirt and gummy worms.

A worm race began at 2 p.m. The children brought in their own worms. The worms were placed on a target, and the person whose worm crossed a certain point in the target automatically won, but if not, the worm that crawled the furthest wins. However, at the end of the race, everyone received a ribbon.

Other games were played, too.

The Clark County Public Library’s summer reading program begins in June and lasts through August. Each branch offers different activities for the children to do.

The Enon branch is currently holding an ongoing scavenger hunt that started June 3 and runs until the 21 and has several other events happening throughout the summer for the summer reading program.

“I go to the library all the time,” said Cora Grooms, a 5th grader. “It’s just like credit for having fun.”

The summer reading program is open to kids of all ages.

The purpose is to create lifelong readers, said Cross.

The program is sponsored by Friends of the Library and Young Woman’s Mission.

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