NAHANT — A day before his 11th birthday, Kristijonas Shilas was in his element, constructing paper airplanes and launching them from the front porch of the library.
Thinking like an engineer, Shilas used trial and error to learn that changing the shape of his design and creating lips on the side of his plane’s wings helped it glide, he said.
“I’m pretty creative,” Kristijonas said. “I think with science.”
Wednesday’s Paperpalooza party at the Nahant Public Library capped off this year’s summer reading theme to build a better world. Summer reading logs were transformed into paper chains, paper boats sailed on a makeshift pond, and paper airplanes soared from the building’s porch.
In addition to hosting building-related activities throughout the month, several construction-themed children’s books were added to the library’s collection, including the “Who Built That?” series by Didier Cornille.
“We also have a book about Rosie the Riveter because she helped build a better world,” said Children’s Librarian Kim Carmody-Hosker.
The Nahant Public Library’s summer reading program is designed to help inspire children to continue reading throughout the summer and to enjoy reading for pleasure, said director Sharon Hawkes. Hands-on activities related to the summer reading theme are chosen to keep the children involved.
Last year, a beach reading theme brought the children to several of the town’s sandy spaces for activities including short stories on Short Beach and an obstacle course and book signing at the Flash Road playground.
Earlier this month, the library launched a LEGO club that met on Wednesdays, which Carmody-Hosker said she hopes to make permanent. Children and parents gathered to build words with scrabble pieces, and giant Jenga blocks were used to create structures.
Adults were challenged to a spelling bee with the Johnson Elementary School’s reigning fifth grade spelling bee champ Max Manadee for Nahant’s version of “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?”
“These activities spark an interest,” said Mary Sanborn, who has participated in the summer reading program with her granddaughter Avery Shaw. “She’s been keeping up with the logs. It’s something to do and she wanted to be here today.”
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