Henna tattoo artist Krysteen Lomonaco sat poised in the meeting room of the Coupeville Library and drew a beautifully intricate flower design on a girl’s arm in the span of about two minutes.
Though she’s stationed in Seattle, Lomonaco travels to all sorts of special events for her company, Mehndi Madness, teaching about mehndi traditions and doing tattoos. She said she’s always enjoyed coming to the island where the people enthusiastically roll up their sleeves. On Tuesday, Lomonaco wasn’t disappointed when she was welcomed by a room full of teens eager to have their skin decorated and stained.
Lomonaco is just one of the dozens of guests who will visit the Coupeville and Oak Harbor libraries this season as part of Sno-Isle’s summer reading program for teens and children.
The programs, which kicked off when the schools closed, challenge the kids to read as many books as possible. When the kids reach certain benchmarks, they’re rewarded with treats and prizes like free books and Italian sodas from Whidbey Coffee. While the children’s program “One World, Many Stories,” asks youths to read sets of 10 books, the teen program, “You Are Here,” requires the students to write book reviews. Grand prizes include a personalized visit from the bookmobile, a poster with the student’s picture on it and an iPad 2.
Oak Harbor librarian Debbie Lagassé said the reading program is extremely popular. At the children’s launch last week, kids packed the event room and laughed their way through a presentation of “Puss ‘N’ Boots” by the Oregon Shadow Theater.
Lagassé said about 1,000 children usually participate in the program with about two-thirds of them signing up in the initial week.
“We have some amazing things going on this summer,” said Oak Harbor children’s librarian, Jane Lopez-Santillana.
Coupeville children’s librarian Leslie Bakker said getting involved in summer reading is a good way for students to keep their minds stimulated during vacation.
“Besides being fun, it helps kids avoid falling behind in their reading,” Bakker said. “Many teachers have said it’s important for students to avoid falling into a summer slump.”
Though Bakker wasn’t sure how many teen signups the library usually gathers, she said she expects at least 300 children to join the program. She said 200 had already registered in the first week.
Sixteen-year-old KT Wynn is taking full advantage of the program.
“I want to win prizes, but I read a lot during the summer too,” KT said. “I have a stack of books at home I’m working through.”
Even Lomonaco with her Seattle roots admitted she’s going to sign her daughter up on the island. She said she comes up for the Fourth of July celebration in Oak Harbor and the Coupeville Arts & Crafts Festival, so her daughter has time to pick up books.
“She loves to read,” Lomonaco said. “Some days I have to tell her, ‘OK, put the books down, we need to do chores.’”
In addition to the teen and children’s programs, the libraries have a program for adults called “Novel Destinations” with a Nook Color e-reader up for grabs. For more information on any of the three programs and to see weekly event listings, visit www.sno-isle.org.
