For the past two years our library has celebrated Squirrel Appreciation Day. Yes, there is such a national celebration every year on January 21. We have highlighted the occasion by handing out informative squirrel bookmarks, which are always a hit.

This year we decided to kick things up a notch. That’s right – a READ TO A SQUIRREL event with the goal of promoting reading.

In addition to the bookmarks, this year we added squirrel stickers which were a hit.

To enhance efforts to increase reading for pleasure, this day long Read to a Squirrel Event was offered to students on a Friday.

Students who sat in our back area (Fiction Section) with a book to read were offered hot cocoa and a plush squirrel they could read to or just cuddle while reading.

Morning announcements and signs created a buzz in advance of the activity. Students were quite excited. More surprisingly was that staff members were equally excited.

We had a surprise visit with Fredo and Enzo, Chilean ground squirrels. Thanks to a science teacher, Fredo and Enzo got to spend the day in the library.

Overall the day was successful – students read, staff read, all associated reading as a fun experience. Based on the feedback received we’re wondering who we should read to next!

Happy reading!