It's time to sign up for summer children's programs at Paris Public Library. Come to the library, call 463-3950, or sign up online. See registration links in menu at left. Storyhour is so close to full that we have turned off online registration and ask you to call.

Summer Reading Club     Tuesdays, June 5--July 3

Summer Reading Club is a fun way to encourage reading and spark new interests. Each week features games, arts & crafts, or special guests.
   Grades 3-4-5-6 (entering in fall)  10:30--Noon
   Grades 1--2  (entering in fall)        2:00--3:30

Storyhour    Thursdays, June 14--July 5

Four sessions of listening to stories, simple crafts, or special guests. Ages 3, 4, and 5   10:30--11:15.   Limit of 25 children.

Plus --- Science is So Delicious! July 10   2:00pm. Special event for all ages at YMCA's Hangar, presented by Mad Science of St. Louis.

Stone Soup Shakespeare will perform "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Twin Lakes Park (west park, near the shelter) at 6:00pm, May 26. The outdoor performance is free, but cans of soup are welcomed for the local Compassionate Food Ministry.

Stone Soup Shakespeare presents Shakespeare as brand new stories because to many people they are.  An audience's first experience with a Shakespeare performance will be lively and entertaining; those already acquainted with the play will see it as a new experience of a familiar story. The troupe mimics the energy and inventiveness of players popular in Shakespeare’s day, but for today's audience.

Bring your lawn chairs and join the fun. Free cotton candy; balloon animals for children.

Interested in acting? Stone Soup Shakespeare will lead a free actors' workshop for middle school/high school students and adults at Paris Public Library that afternoon, at 2pm. It will be approximately 90 minutes long.

Presented by Paris Public Library, Paris Park Board, and Friends of Paris Library.

The traveling exhibition Cultivating Creativity 2011-2012: Consolidated Communications Children’s Art Exhibit visits Paris Public Library from May 8 to May 31.  Cultivating Creativity showcases some outstanding art produced through East Central Illinois school art programs.  It includes art by 43 students, each representing a different school from the 2010-2011 school year.

Representing schools in the Paris area are Bo Minor, Crestwood Unit #4 School and Sophia Jordan, St. Mary’s School. Paris student Allysa Rowell's art from her previous school district is also exhibited.

Minor’s pencil drawing “Portrait of My Momma” was done in the sixth grade under the direction of Mary H. St. Clair. At St. Mary’s School, fourth grader Jordan created the watercolor painting “Quilt of Colors” under the direction of Christi McClain.

Cultivating Creativity 2011–2012 is sponsored by Consolidated Communications and Tarble Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University.  The exhibit travels to 14 area communities.  This annual program showcases outstanding art by area students to help raise awareness of the importance of including the arts in the regular school curriculum.