A creative cure for summertime boredom
L-R: Brianna King and Natalie Kempton, armed with colorful chalk, are transforming a Newberry sidewalk into an imaginative work of art. The youngsters are participating in the Newberry branch library’s summer reading program, which has a host of activities scheduled through the end of July.
NEWBERRY – Youngsters looking for a cure to the endless days of summer need not look any further than their local public library. Like other libraries around the county, the Newberry branch of the Alachua County Library District has a full schedule of summertime boredom beaters.
The focus this week of the Newberry library branch has been its third annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest, which began Monday, June 18 and wraps up Thursday, June 21. The library provides the colorful chalk and plenty of sidewalk, said Marian Suggs, library specialist in charge of programing for the children’s summer reading program.
“The children just need to provide the inspiration,” Suggs added.
And the contest has already been a smashing success with nearly two dozen youngsters participating by Wednesday afternoon.
Suggs said she had heard about the idea of a sidewalk chalk activity for summer reading programs. But she upped the ante by bringing a competitive spirit when she introduced the activity as a contest at the Newberry library three years ago.
Despite seemingly drenching rains in recent weeks, the sidewalk chalk contest has dodged the bullet over the past few days. Those clear skies have left the youth-inspired art sketched on the sidewalks around the library.
But if the skies should let out another downpour, Suggs says fear not.
“We take pictures of them each day so we can share them with everyone and put them on our blog later this week,” she said.
This year, the winner of the contest will receive a Town of Tioga gift certificate. Other participants won’t be left out in the cold as Suggs said each participant would receive something.
Ten-year-old Brianna King has been spending much of her summer at the library before she enters fifth grade at Newberry’s Oakview Middle School. With beauty as her inspiration and the sidewalk as her canvas, King chalked out a masterpiece she calls “A Beautiful Day.” With large shapes and bright colors, King’s drawing, prominently displayed near the library entrance, features flowers and balloons.
Natalie Kempton, also 10 years old and one of King’s schoolmates, has also been passing some of her time at the library since graduating from Newberry Elementary a few shorts weeks ago. Kempton found a shady spot along the walkway where she drew cooler visions on her piece of art, which depicts a blue flowing river and tall, tall pine trees. She also drew a picture of her pet pooch and on another sidewalk segment, the image of one of her new favorite activities – Archery.
Although the Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest ends Thursday, the fun isn’t over at the Newberry branch library, where each Monday at 2 p.m. they have “Cool Monday Movies.” On Thursdays at the same time, they make crafts. A variety of other activities dot the calendar over the next several weeks. Suggs said the library would close out the summer reading program with a celebration on Thursday, July 26, which will include cupcake decorating, hula hoops, games and prize drawings for the program’s best readers and participants.
To see a complete calendar of events and the sidewalk photos to be posted later this week, visit www.aclib.us/newberry.
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Email editor@alachuatoday.com
L-R: Brianna King and Natalie Kempton, armed with colorful chalk, are transforming a Newberry sidewalk into an imaginative work of art. The youngsters are participating in the Newberry branch library’s summer reading program, which has a host of activities scheduled through the end of July.
NEWBERRY – Youngsters looking for a cure to the endless days of summer need not look any further than their local public library. Like other libraries around the county, the Newberry branch of the Alachua County Library District has a full schedule of summertime boredom beaters.
The focus this week of the Newberry library branch has been its third annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest, which began Monday, June 18 and wraps up Thursday, June 21. The library provides the colorful chalk and plenty of sidewalk, said Marian Suggs, library specialist in charge of programing for the children’s summer reading program.
“The children just need to provide the inspiration,” Suggs added.
And the contest has already been a smashing success with nearly two dozen youngsters participating by Wednesday afternoon.
Suggs said she had heard about the idea of a sidewalk chalk activity for summer reading programs. But she upped the ante by bringing a competitive spirit when she introduced the activity as a contest at the Newberry library three years ago.
Despite seemingly drenching rains in recent weeks, the sidewalk chalk contest has dodged the bullet over the past few days. Those clear skies have left the youth-inspired art sketched on the sidewalks around the library.
But if the skies should let out another downpour, Suggs says fear not.
“We take pictures of them each day so we can share them with everyone and put them on our blog later this week,” she said.
This year, the winner of the contest will receive a Town of Tioga gift certificate. Other participants won’t be left out in the cold as Suggs said each participant would receive something.
Ten-year-old Brianna King has been spending much of her summer at the library before she enters fifth grade at Newberry’s Oakview Middle School. With beauty as her inspiration and the sidewalk as her canvas, King chalked out a masterpiece she calls “A Beautiful Day.” With large shapes and bright colors, King’s drawing, prominently displayed near the library entrance, features flowers and balloons.
Natalie Kempton, also 10 years old and one of King’s schoolmates, has also been passing some of her time at the library since graduating from Newberry Elementary a few shorts weeks ago. Kempton found a shady spot along the walkway where she drew cooler visions on her piece of art, which depicts a blue flowing river and tall, tall pine trees. She also drew a picture of her pet pooch and on another sidewalk segment, the image of one of her new favorite activities – Archery.
Although the Sidewalk Chalk Art Contest ends Thursday, the fun isn’t over at the Newberry branch library, where each Monday at 2 p.m. they have “Cool Monday Movies.” On Thursdays at the same time, they make crafts. A variety of other activities dot the calendar over the next several weeks. Suggs said the library would close out the summer reading program with a celebration on Thursday, July 26, which will include cupcake decorating, hula hoops, games and prize drawings for the program’s best readers and participants.
To see a complete calendar of events and the sidewalk photos to be posted later this week, visit www.aclib.us/newberry.
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