Romulus resident Areej Javaid (left), 6, makes a valentine card with her mother, Khizra, and twin sister Aroosh, 6, Feb. 12 at Southgate Veterans Memorial Library, 14680 Dix Toledo Road.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE – A Valentine’s Day story and a heart-themed card-making craft gave children an early start to the holiday Feb. 12 at the Veterans Memorial Library, 14680 Dix Toledo Road.
Aubrey Scharnhorst (left), 7, and her brother Blake, 3, of Dearborn Heights, make Valentines Feb. 12 at Southgate Veterans Memorial Library, 14680 Dix Toledo Road.
Youth librarian Mike DiMuzio read Corinne Demas’ “A Valentine Surprise,” which was followed by table time with paper, scissors, foam hearts, glue and a rainbow of markers from which participants created unique Valentine cards.
Anne Scharnhorst, of Dearborn Heights, said while this is the first craft project her children, Blake, 3, and Aubrey, 7, have attended, they come to the library often for books.
“We always like the reading program in the summer – that’s a lot of fun,” she said. “We like the variety of books, and have come to a couple of story times.”
Khizra Javaid, of Romulus, who brought her 6-year-old twin daughters, Areej and Aroosh, to story time, said she brings them to the library at least twice a week to pick out books. She said they love having stories read to them.
Aroosh, who was gluing foam hearts onto her Valentine card, said she was making it for her father, while Areej focused on drawing a picture with markers on her card.
Riley Thompson, 4, of Southgate makes a valentine card Feb. 12 at Southgate Veterans Memorial Library, 14680 Dix Toledo Road.
Kristi Thompson, of Southgate, said her daughter Riley, 4, who was intently adhering foam hearts to her Valentine card, enjoys story time and crafts.
“She always checks out books,” she said. “It’s a very open environment, with lots of books to choose from, friendly to kids, and good for the community.”
DiMuzio said he likes to offer story time and crafts for children because of their eagerness to participate.
“They are the most enthusiastic people in the world,” he said. “They have so much fun with simple things. It is so great to experience their joy.”
DiMuzio said he plans to pair a craft with story time at least once a month, like making cats out of paper plates, and said he has some big events planned for the summer.
“We are going to have live bats in the library – that will be fun,” he said. “There will also be a lot of music, because the theme this year is ‘libraries rock,’ so we’ll have a couple music groups, and teaching kids how to write songs.”
For more information about upcoming programs at Veterans Memorial Library, go to southgate.lib.mi.us.
(Sue Suchyta can be reached at [email protected].)