Officials with Boyne Regional Library in Carman are calling their first ever Literacy Fair a success.
Elementary students from Elm Creek, Carman and Dufferin Christian school participated in the event which was designed to introduce the library's summer reading program.

"I am very excited about it because I'm a very big believer and advocate for children reading books," said Susan Mooney, a volunteer member with the library. "We have learned of research that shows if children are not exposed to books during the summer months, they can fall behind when they go back to school in September. That situation is preventable, which is why we organized the fair."

Students participated in hands-on activities connected to nature, movement, music, a wood carving display and puppet show.boyne library reader
Country 88's Tyler Hildebrand takes time out of his day to read to the kids

"Around all of that, we have readers who have been invited, always with the idea about the kind of books we can read. With all the activities that children are doing today, there are books that have been pulled to encourage the kids to read."

Mooney feels early child literacy is very important in today's world and introducing children to books through a community program like the literacy fair made a lot of sense to local volunteers and library members. She points out the literacy fair is directly connected to the Boyne Regional Library's renovation project.

"There is a lot of funding, provincially and federally, for early childhood literacy programs that we can't tap into because we don't have the space. We have such a good partnership with the daycare facilities in our community and the family resource centre, so there are a lot of children in that early childhood category, so why wouldn't we try to provide the best that we can for these families."

The extension/renovation project of the Boyne Library is currently in the fundraising stage right now.