Vicki Oatis, the children's librarian at the Norwalk Public Library, wanted to end the summer with a bang for the kids that participated in the Make a Splash Summer Reading Program.
"I thought it would be really fun to do a big ending, to go out with a bang," Oatis said. "What better way than a big luau? I thought of it as a big party. We're had live music and a hula dancer. It's just fun."
Oatis said that more than 1,000 children participated in the reading program. During the summer, children are expected to read seven books on their own or 25 if their parents are reading to them.
"The children could do the summer reading program as many times as they wanted," Oatis said. "We have kids that completed it two, three or four times. Every time they came back they won another prize."
The luau party included leis for all in attendance, a water balloon tossing contest and ice cream served up outside. Oatis hopes that the program, and the party, helps children become lifelong readers.
"We hope by encouraging them to read now, they will realize there's a book out there for everybody," Oatis said. "Whether they like to read or not, they will find something they really enjoy. That's why we don't assign books. We let them explore the library and all the different books that are in there."
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