Spirit of the Carnival in Chambersburg

Common Wealth Speaker, Tracie Yorke, will be visiting Chambersburg for her multicultural presentation Spirit of the Carnival at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, June 24. The performance will take place at the Eugene C. Clarke Jr. Community Center on 235 South 3rd Street, and will focus on the thrill of the carnival in such areas as Port-of-Spain, Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. As part of the 2011 Summer Reading Program, this program is compliments of Coyle Free Library and Franklin County Library System.

Yorke has been performing for the last ten years both nationally and nationally. A graduate of Amherst College, Yorke is both an ethnologist and professional dancer.

The performance is free, educational, fun and family friendly. There will be colorful costumes, vibrant images, and rhythmic music. The presentation closes, as all carnival celebrations do, with a parade of champions, drawn from the audience.

This performance is a program of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council supported in part by the national Endowment for the Humanities and its We the People initiative. The Pennsylvania Humanities Council, a nonprofit organization, inspires individuals to enjoy and share a life of learning. Coyle Free Library as a part of Franklin County Library System shares the values of the Pennsylvania Humanities council and wants to continue to enrich the lives of residents of the region through access to materials, information, and services imparting the knowledge, experience, and wisdom of others.

Summer Reading Donation

Detrich-Brechbill American Legion Post 612 donates $1000 to the 2011 summer reading program at St. Thomas Library.

Pictured left to right in photo: Bernice Crouse, Executive Director, Franklin County Library System; Robert Zullinger, Post Commander, Detrich-Brechbill American Legion Post 612, Deanna Snider, Branch Manager, St. Thomas Library.

2011 Summer Reading Programs

“One World, Many Stories” is the theme for reading for children in Franklin County this summer. Registration begins Monday, June 6th at all Franklin County Library System libraries and Wednesday, June 15th at Fendrick Library in Mercersburg for summer reading activities. This year, infant - 12 years old can attend One World, Many Stories programs, teen programs for 12-19 year olds are titled “You Are Here” and the adult program is called “Novel Destinations”.

You can register online to log books and earn points for the reading club portion of the program. Reading and listening to books in any format, paper, electronic, audio, all count toward the reading club awards at all age levels. Programs at public libraries are free but space is limited, so to attend Storytimes, make crafts, or participate in other summer events, sign up at your home library.

To kick off the way to visit many places in the world through books this summer, attend one of four free concerts by musician Jim Rule. Concert dates, times and locations are as follows:
Thursday, June 16 at 10:30 am in the Chambersburg Area Middle School Auditorium,
Thursday, June 16 at 2:00 pm in the Greencastle-Antrim High School Auditorium
Friday, June 17, at 10:00 am at the Fulton County Library, McConnellsburg.
Friday, June 17, at 2 pm at Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church, Spring Run
The concerts are free and tickets may be picked up at any public library. For more information on Jim Rule, visit www.jimrule.com

Another family friendly way to learn about life in other cultures is to attend “Spirit of the Carnival” this summer. Presenter Tracie Yorke, Common Wealth Speaker, will perform on Friday, June 24 at 6 pm at the Eugene C. Clarke Jr. Community Center on 3rd Street in Chambersburg. Yorke is an ethnologist and professional dancer who performs internationally. This performance will focus on the carnival atmosphere in areas like Port-of-Spain, Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans.

Again this summer, the book reading club portion of the program is all online. Readers can register, log books, earn points and write reviews online by simply registering on the library system’s website. From any computer, go to www.fclspa.org and click on the icon for your age category. After registering, simply access your account from any computer with internet access to log your reading progress. Public library computers are available for those who would like to register and log books there.

Reading clubs, prizes, story times, crafts and special programs for all ages will be offered at the following participating libraries in Franklin County: Coyle Free Library, Chambersburg; Grove Family Library, Chambersburg; Lilian S. Besore Library, Greencastle; St. Thomas Library; Fort Loudon Library; Franklin County Bookmobile; Fendrick Library, Mercersburg; Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library, Waynesboro; and Blue Ridge Summit Library.

Studies show that summer reading strengthens early literacy skills in young child, increases vocabulary and helps to improve school success when children return in the Fall. Summer Reading Programs are a way for families to accomplish this goal together and have fun at the same time.

Franklin County Library System would like to thank The Dollar General Literacy Foundation, American Legion Detrich-Brechbill Post No. 612 (St. Thomas), the Mt. Parnell Lions Club, and CoyleFriends for partially funding and making possible the 2011 Summer Reading Programs.

Contact your nearest public library for more specific information on their schedule of events, or call Carol McNamee, Franklin County Library System Youth Services Librarian at 717-709-0303.