Manhasset students have seven full weeks of school before summer vacation, and the Manhasset Public Library is gearing up to give students a place to be away from home and out of the heat.
Two rooms dedicated to books and activities for children and teenagers are on the third floor above the adult fiction and nonfiction sections, Director Maggie Gough said, and are popular spots both during the day and after school.
The brightly colored spaces with lots of floor space and age-appropriate materials give students the chance to browse through books. There are homework and study space and tables for group projects both in the Teen Zone and the Secret Garden room as well as in the library’s private study rooms.
When students are given required reading during the school year and during the summer, Gough said, she will reserve both physical and digital copies of the books for students.
As part of the Nassau County Library Consortium, Gough said, the library has access to many electronic books and electronic audiobook copies that are divided between common use and E-book Advantage use.
When the schools choose a book, Gough and her staff will move digital copies to the special collection until the students no longer need them.
“If I know everyone is going to be reading ‘Catcher in the Rye,’ I can move 20 copies to the advantage so a whole class can read it, and when they’re done, it can be moved back to common use,” Gough said.
Gough said the library’s summer reading program is themed around Libraries Rock, which she said will be interpreted as both rock music and physical rocks.
The program, which is a statewide initiative, encourages children, young adults and adults to continue reading throughout the summer with different events and prizes.
The kickoff event set for 5 p.m. June 28 is often well-attended, Gough said, with up to 400 people in the past.
“There’s a lot of people here, and it’s raucously good fun,” Gough said. “The idea is to keep reading all year long and making reading a fun event for children, not torturing them.”
Gough said a “fun bus” will take over the library parking lot with games and activities inside it as well as rock ‘n’ roll activities in the library’s community room. During the event, interested readers can sign up for the summer-long program as well as enjoy an ice cream sundae with the librarians and other residents.
