NCW Libraries hosts storytimes throughout Grant County Fair
Aaron Loeffelbein, the branch supervisor of the Ephrata Public Library, reads The Chicken Who Couldn’t to children during the Friday 11:30 a.m. storytime in the Youth Building of the Grant County Fair.
GABRIEL DAVIS/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Jen Scott and her son, Luke Scott, inside the Youth Building at the Grant County Fair after the NCW Library storytime.
Audience members sit on blanket-covered hay bales at the Grant County Fair while Ephrata Public Library Branch Supervisor Aaron Loeffelbein reads a children’s book during storytime.
MOSES LAKE – NCW Libraries from all over Grant County hosted daily children’s storytimes throughout the duration of the Grant County Fair, including the Ephrata Branch’s storytime Friday at 11:30 in the fairgrounds Youth Building.
Aaron Loeffelbein, the Ephrata Public Library branch supervisor, was set up with a microphone in front of rows of blanket-covered hay bales for the children and parents to sit on. Loeffelbein had several books ready to read.
“We're going to do The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and it's a giant size,” said Loeffelbein. “I always have a helper from the crowd come up. This one has crowd participation when we get to this part, when everyone says ‘He was still hungry.’”
Loeffelbein starts off every storytime with a specific song that he leads the children through, with motions and interactive segments.
“My hope for storytimes is always that kids have fun, that they connect fun and joy and laughter with books, because we want them to become lifelong readers and learners,” said Loeffelbein. “So we want to, you know, introduce some skills or a new kind of art or skill concept with a book, but have fun with it at the same time.”
Fair attendee Jen Scott, who brought her son Luke Scott to the storytime, said that having the storytime as part of the fair was very convenient for her.
“We saw it advertised and I always wanted to bring him to story time, but it's when I'm working,” she said. “So after about a year of trying to find one that I could go to this one actually worked.”
Luke Scott said that his favorite part about the storytime was the books and that his favorite from Friday’s storytime was one called The Chicken Who Couldn’t.
“Where the duck crashes out of the truck, because it was funny,” he said.
When asked if she would take Luke to more storytimes, Jen Scott said they would only be at the fair that day.
“I think right now he wants tractors and ice cream,” she said.
The children who attended the storytimes also had access to a craft table after Loeffelbein finished reading where they could recreate parts of the books or work on other crafts.
Loeffelbein said that they had averaged about 20 children per storytime during the fair on Wednesday. Other Grant County libraries covered the other days of the fair.
“We've got a team coming in tomorrow too,” said Loeffelbein before Friday’s storytime. “We have songs that use American Sign Language. We have some motions where, you know, kids need to get wiggles out, so we do some of that kind of stuff.”
The Ephrata Public Library will be continuing their storytimes in fall on Tuesdays at 11:30 a.m., as well as year-round zoom storytimes Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.
“I like to do storytimes at every chance I get.” said Loeffelbein. “Having kids, you know, like I said earlier, get the kind of exposure to books in a way that they can connect that with joy and with laughter and having a positive experience.”
Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Nominate your favorite local business for Best of the Basin at bit.ly/BESTOF2023.
