Several area libraries are encouraging summer reading through special events, among them Haddonfield’s recent Mess-tival on June 26.
The event was held at Library Point, the brick walkways and lawn that sit in front of the library building.
Children at the Mess-tival event sat on the lawn at Library Point, the brick walkway and lawn area outside the library, to paint rocks.
This year’s summer reading theme is “Color Our World,” which centers on art and creativity. To lean into the idea, the Mess-tival featured a number of arts and crafts activities for children and their parents. The library set up its own area in the center of other booths, where children’s librarian Jordan Bilodeau and programming coordinator Katrina Price sat to register attendees.
“It’s kind of a big kickoff to summer …” Bilodeau said of Mess-tival, adding that because the summer reading theme is “Color Our World,” everything had an art theme.
Along one of the walkways, several painted rocks were lined up at the edge of the grass. Next to them was a large bucket filled with rocks and a sign explaining the project as a community art endeavor.
“I’m a rock snake here to make you smile,” the sign said. “Add a painted rock to help me grow a mile.”
Everyone was encouraged to take and paint a rock, then line them up with the others so a rock snake could stretch all around the library grounds.
A table on one side of Library Point held six clear plastic bins each filled with colorful sand in the shape of a heart or a star so kids could create their own sand art project. Each container came with a colorful string so the kids’ projects could hang around their necks.
Another major attraction at the Mess-tival were the two large, inflatable tents from the Mullica Hill Art Center set up on the lawn of Library Point for use as splatter art. Children could don ponchos and enter the inflatables to splatter paint across a canvas set up on an easel.
“We have a huge turnout,” Bilodeau noted. “We have over 150 kids attending this event, which is wonderful. We also have our summer reading logs available for kids and teens, and it’s great to see children of all ages attending this event.”
Mess-tival was sponsored by PM Pediatric Urgent Care, Haddonfield Friends of the Library and Frios popsicles, which were handed out to kids. The Urgent Care table was set up with slap bracelets, coloring pages, crayons, markers and stickers. Liz Kerney is a registered nurse with the pediatric facility.
“We’re here, sponsoring this event, and helping the community to be aware that we are here for them …” she pointed out. “It’s been excellent.”
