September is Library Card Sign-Up Month

The Mineola Memorial Library is hosting its annual "Library Card Sign-Up Month" this September to coincide with the first day of school. A library card can be obtained if a child is at least four years old and can write his or her own name.

Aside from books, children with a library card may take out videos, DVDs, magazines, CD's, playaways and audiobooks from the children's room located on the lower level.

Jesse, 9, and his brother Matthew, 4, signed-up for their library cards and couldn't wait to begin using them.  

"I took out a book about sharks for my book report," Jesse said, pointing to his large collection. "The I, SPY book is just for fun." Next time they return to the library, the boys hope to make use of the computers in the children's room.

As an added bonus when they sign up during September, children will receive a free gift bag, which includes a cardholder, a sticker, an animal-head eraser, a bookmark and a pencil.

Vivian Yuan, the youth services librarian, stressed the importance of children having a library card. "It's better to have an appreciation for reading at a young age," she said. "It helps children in school; the sooner they read the better (as) it helps with language development and social skills."

Yuan added that children who have a library card can attend the library's free programs, which include a back-to-school book swap, cupcake decorating and making a "Dora the Explorer" themed backpack while reading about the bilingual adventurer's travels.

Children can also make use of live online homework help, assistance with book reports, and download free eBooks in the children's room.

According to Yuan, the current most popular books to take out are Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling and the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne.

Children can sign up for a library card Monday through Saturday.