A city can never have too many libraries, but sometimes they tend to get lost in the shuffle. That’s one of the many reasons why the Sage Café – located in the East Mesa Recreation Center – has scheduled its very first Book Fair, on Saturday, June 10, 2023. Held in conjunction with the City’s Summer Reading Program, the outdoor event is free and open to all ages, from 9 a.m. – noon. All that’s required is a love of reading, and a desire to have fun!
A Full Morning of Excitement
In addition to books, books, and more books, the Book Fair will have several activities lined up for young and old alike, including games and art booths. The Children’s Reading Alliance, an event sponsor, will have activities, and the City of Las Cruces Museum System will be on hand with an activity honoring literary heroes.
“The museums will also have a trivia contest,” says Outreach and Marketing Librarian Elizabeth Puckett. “The more trivia questions you get right, the more swag you’ll get from the museums. I will also bring some giant yard games that we use for these kinds of events, like giant Legos, and a beanbag toss game. This event will mostly be arts and crafts, and fun outdoor stuff like bubbles, sidewalk chalk, hoola hoops, that kind of thing.”
Puckett also points out that this will be the first time the Sage Café Branch will have its own summer kick off. “It’s important to note that this is the first very large program that we have done at Sage since its reopening post-pandemic,” she says. “Kind of a reintroduction to that branch and its staff. We’re gearing it towards children, but we want everyone to feel welcome to come and explore a branch that people might have forgotten about, or might not even know it exists.”
Read, Play, Win
Each child who attends the Book Fair at Sage Café will also receive a ticket to redeem for a free book. By taking part in the many activities being offered, they can win up to four tickets for more free books. However, if they sign up for the Summer Reading Program, which kicked off at the main library on June 3, and log the days they read all summer, they also get more chances to win prizes, including, yes, more free books!
“Our motto is Read, Play, Win,” says Elizabeth. “Read and log your minutes, join us to have fun all summer, and win some prizes at the end. It’s open for everyone, kids and adults alike.”
The biggest tie-in is, of course, the Summer Reading Program, in which children and teens must read every day for 7 days straight, and adults must read every day for 14 days straight. Get the full scoop on the Summer Reading Program here.
“If they read a little bit while they’re at our Book Fair, they can log their first minutes and have their first day of reading with us,” Elizabeth says.
About Sage Café Community Center
The City-owned multi-generational facility on the East Mesa features activities for seniors, including knitting, chess, dominos and card games. But it’s also got plenty to do for the young, as well. Books, obviously, are the main draw.
“Again, that’s one of the reasons we’re doing this event,” says Elizabeth. “There will be a variety of programs at the Sage branch for kids, adults and seniors throughout the summer that will tie in with the Summer Reading Program. I think people will be surprised at how much is going on there.”
The Sage Café is located at 6121 Reynolds Drive, in Las Cruces. Hours are Monday thru Friday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. The library is closed Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, call 575-528-3154.
To find out more about the Summer Reading Program at the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library, and its branches, visit the website.
Posted by LasCruces.com
