BIG RAPIDS — In an effort to provide activities and education for youth in the area, the Big Rapids Community Library will be resuming a popular educational program.
Take and Make kits will be available Tuesday, Sept. 7.
Take and Make kits highlight different monthly crafts to be assembled. The initiative is a part of the library’s programming, which includes in-person programming, a summer reading program, and passive programming like the monthly Take & Make kits. The monthly kits are designed to be for kids of all ages and are limited to one kit per person.
Sarah Welch, head of programs and services at the library, said the kits are interactive and a positive learning experience for the user.
“We basically scour the internet to find crafts that would be enjoyable for our patrons to make no matter the age. In previous months we made kits appropriate for different age groups and decided that in the restart of the kits we would find a generalized craft for everyone to do,” Welch said.
“Each month, after we announce the kits, patrons come into the library to pick one up," she explained. "We limit the kits to one per person. They take home the kit and use the included instructions and supplies to make the craft. In previous months for more difficult crafts, we would post an instruction video to our website for reference as well.”
The program has had several kits that were popular, including a Pokémon-themed craft. Creating the kits takes the library’s team plenty of work, especially while they were doing over 100 a month. The staff and volunteers spent hours putting the kits together.
Welch said the team works to find unique and fun crafts each month for the community.
“When deciding what crafts to put in the kits next, library staff consider the interests of our patrons by observing what is being checked out at the library,” Welch said. “The kits allow our patrons to do things that they may have never tried before, whether it be cross stitching, soap making, making bird feeders, and so on.”
The Take and Make program began when there was a pause in the library’s summer reading program, and the staff was looking for new ways to supplement education and activities for the summer and fall.
Welch said that because of the positive feedback and demand for more activities through the library, they decided to restart the program.
“Even during the pause in our reading program, we were still being asked by patrons if the kits would be available soon if we were to make them again,” Welch said. “There was a lot of interest in them, and because of summer coming to a close, the library decided to start the program again.
"We’ve gotten really great feedback, and it’s interesting to see how the kits are being done, whether it be over the span of a weekend at grandma’s house or taking time after dinner as a family to work on them.
“The Friends of the Library were huge contributors to this program. The supplies for the kits were purchased with money given to the library from the Friend’s fundraisers,” she added. “We are so grateful to the Friends group for what they do for the library and to our community members who have purchase things from their book sales and came to their yearly chicken barbecue. Library staff and library volunteers were also invaluable when it came to the kits.
Welch said they hope to continue the program into the winter. As the weather gets colder she believes people will be looking for things to do indoors.
Supporting the program, she said, is as simple as paying attention to updates.
“You can get involved by keeping your eye out on social media and the advertising we do in the library for them,” Welch said. “We only have a limited number of kits that go pretty quickly, so once the announced date of when the kits are available, stop on by.”
For more information and to watch for updates on kit availability visit the library’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BigRapidsCommunityLibrary.
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September 01, 2021 at 05:07PM
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Big Rapids library to resume ‘Take and Make’ kits - The Pioneer
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