education
WESTERN KENTUCKY BOTANICAL GARDEN The First Saturday at the Botanical Garden event series at the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden runs for three months in the fall and three months in the spring — diving into a number of topics that children learn about by checking out books on the content and exploring the topic through a first-hand experience activity or science experiment. Topics have included learning about natural ways to wash wax off of apples before consumption, the benefits of recycling and reusing products, how to make a plastic bag into clothing, and creating a worm habitat.
DAVIESS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 2020 Frederica Street • dcplibrary.org
Established as a Carnegie Free Public Library at Frederica and Ninth streets in 1912, the Daviess County Public Library moved into its current home in 2007, offering more than 197,000 books, 46,000 eBooks and public access to more than 30 online databases — providing residents the opportunity to pursue lifelong learning; to meet their recreational reading interests; to find, evaluate and use information in a variety of formats; to get answers to their questions; and to better understand their personal and community heritage through books, films, music, family history, local history and Kentucky history. The library has become one of the busiest facilities in Kentucky, with more than 478,000 visits and 74,756 registered users in 2020. It has also become one of the state’s fastest growing libraries in terms of attendance, growing over 30% in the past few years. Music programming has been a popular feature at the library since about 2014, drawing core fan bases regularly to see musicians such as touring artists Chris Staples and Taylor Dooley Burden. KIWANIS OUTDOOR MUSICAL PLAY PARK Created on the library’s grounds as the Kiwanis Club’s 75th anniversary project, the Musical Play Park opened in 2019, featuring drums, chimes and other outdoor instruments for children to enjoy while families can keep a close eye on them in the enclosed space while reading a favorite book. The park is free for anyone in the community to enjoy when the library is opened or closed.
Kids Crafts And Programs The library offers regularly-scheduled programming for infants and young children, including two “fun-filled” story times designed with both children and caregivers in mind, while enhancing early literacy skills, from 10-10:30 a.m. each Monday and Thursday. A “Wee Read,” for children age 2 and under, is a hands-on experience through interactive storytelling, crafts, finger plays and music. The “Circle Time Storytime: Mini Hands, Many Ideas,” for children between the ages of 3 to 5, allows kids to develop a variety of social skills, such as interacting with others, sharing, taking turns and expressing their feelings. This program can also better prepare children for their first years in a school setting — learning the importance of paying attention, listening and following instructions, and good decision making. GREATER OWENSBORO | 65
