EUTAW-Although a summer of Funtastic Reading has ended at the James C. Poole Memorial Library in Eutaw, the fun continues for local children and their families.

The library completed the Funtastic Summer Reading program July 2. “It went very well,” Clara Bailey, librarian. “A guest clown climaxed the end of the program.”

Bailey said the program had a “huge turnout” with over 30 children participating.

The funding for the program allowed Bailey to provide a special gift to children who reached their reading goal.

“I get a wish list from the kids,” she said. “I ask them what would motivate them to read.”

One participant in the program read 30 books in two weeks so she could earn a CD player and Shania Twain CD.

“We had a real good time this summer,” Bailey said. “The children love the attention and time I spend with them.”

The next event on schedule for the library is “Bingo for Books.” Children and their family will get an opportunity to win reading books, dictionaries and thesauruses August 5 at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Bailey also heads the “Saturday Morning Imagine That Club.” The club meets every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon and caters to children ages 6-11. The club uses library resources to learn fun facts.

“We’ve been going over each state,” Bailey said. “We will learn things like the state bird and state tree, then we will see what it looks like.”

Bailey said when they were learning about Alaska, the children wanted to know what an igloo looked like, so they found pictures of igloos.

On average, twelve children show up for the free Saturday morning program.

Bailey said although the summer reading program is over, she has children in the library everyday and that she entertains them everyday.

Some days, the children and chaperones even take a short field trip to the school for the free lunch program.

“I try to do whatever’s fun for the kids,” she said. “I get suggestions from them and I do what I can to keep them coming to the library. I love having them around.”