From the forest to the beach, the walls in the Youth Services area take kids on a journey and engage them with the library, making memories to last a lifetime. From birth to middle school, the library encourages learning to read to reading to learn.

A new mural has added vibrancy to the area stretching from the storyzone to the aquarium. A schoolhouse design welcomes kids to the Eldon and Harriet Sloan Computer School.

Michael Perkins, designer and webmaster for www.tscpl.org, is painting the fantastic mural for children and families.

“Kids are excited every time I paint. They all want to help paint, which is cool,” Perkins said. “Adults just watch but hardly say anything. I think they are worried they will break my concentration or something.”

Among the questions Perkins gets asked from children:

Q. “Is he supposed to be painting on the walls?” (a boy asked his father)
A. Yes

Q. “Do you stay late to paint?”
A. Sometimes, but not often. He’s got little kids to go home to too.

Q. “Did the bear lose its arm in an accident?” (before the bear scene was complete with trees in front of the bear’s arm)
A. No, he’s fine. His arm will be behind a tree.

Our facilities staff will be temporarily moving books, bookshelves and other furniture. Work will be done in shifts – about one week each month – to reduce the impact on the public.

Pictures, like a schoolhouse and teddy bear, will tie into the collection seamlessly connecting the customer’s experience to the art with books, DVDs and other materials they can take home.

“One example of this is our schoolhouse and school bus that will contain resources to be ready for and successful in school,” Leann Sevy, Youth Services supervisor, said.

Your library is a place where learning begins. Help grow the next generation of readers with a fun and enticing redesign of the Youth Services area. We dream about a 3-dimensional school bus, castle and even solar system to enchant a child’s imagination and make lasting memories. Call The Library Foundation at 785-580-4498 and pledge your support to the “If Only” fund.