A Treasure Hunt: Letterboxing, Geocaching & History combined in a family activity!

Continuing its 100th Anniversary Year Celebration, the Pember Library & Museum will stage a Letterbox event July 18 – August 4 for children and adults who love treasure hunts.  Participants in the treasure hunt can pick up letterbox clues at the Pember, 33 West Main Street in Granville, New York. Both children and adults can search for hidden letterboxes at various historical places around Granville. Inside each waterproof letterbox will be a journal for comment about the historical site. Participants use the stamp in the box to stamp their “passports” to show they’ve been there.

Participants will also be given geocaching coordinates to help them locate the same hidden boxes. Geocaching is a modern-day scavenger hunt played throughout the world by adventure seekers. Equipped with GPS devices, the idea is to find hidden containers, called geocaches (in this case, plastic letterboxes), outdoors and then share your experiences online. People from all age groups enjoy geocaching and share a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

Prizes will be awarded to those who successfully complete the hunt. (Prizes available after August 4).
Become part of our 100th year anniversary by investigating, searching, and enjoying the history of Granville, New York.

Saturday is the summer reading program kick-off. This year’s theme is Be Creative @ Your Library.

A storyteller on July 2 is also part of the summer program.  See the post about Karen Pillsworth and Stone Soup. Children and teens can sign up at either of these programs or come in to the library during regular hours to sign up.

Linda has programs planned through July and a party in August for those who participated.  The teen program will be described in a later post.

The following information is from the NYS Library:

Summer Reading Programs are Fun and Promote Literacy!

Public libraries across the State encourage reading through the New York Statewide Summer Reading Program. In 2009, kids can Be Creative @ Your Library! Artwork is by children’s book illustrator David Catrow. The teen theme, Express Yourself @ Your Library, features artwork by illustrator Brad Sneed.

Children and families visit public libraries to choose what they want to read as part of a summertime mix of activities. Research shows that children who read during the summer perform better when school resumes in the fall. Kids participate in summer reading fun at their local libraries, and the numbers are growing — in 2008, a record 1.5 million participated.

The New York State Library participates in the national Collaborative Summer Library Program with 46 other member states. The theme, high-quality artwork, and educational activities attract kids to the summer reading program at their local library. The State Library provides the Summer Reading Program manual with creative ideas, projects and reading lists to over 1,100 public libraries, branch libraries and reading centers in New York State.