Two Down, One to Go!
Wow - it's already Thursday and have the last of our neighbor island iRead Webcomics - Teen Summer Reading Program Library Talks! Thankfully, we have a later flight this morning, so I have some time to catch up here.
So far, we've had an amazing time island-hopping! Both Tuesday and Wednesday, we got up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport on time. First stop was Kailua-Kona, the western side of the Big Island of Hawaii!
Our first talk was at the Thelma Parker Library in Kamuela, which was a good 45 minute - 1 hour drive from the airport. The YA librarian, Kipapa Kahelahela has set up our presentation in their children's reading area that was whimsically decorated with giant flowers, bugs and plants all over! (The children's reading program is incidentally - "Get Bitten by the Reading Bug!")
Post-talk, we drove back into Kailua-Kona town and set up for our second talk, hosted by YA librarian Michael Hayley! This was our first presentation, mostly attended by teens! They are all aspiring comic artists and had some excellent questions! :D
For our second island-hop, we hit the island of Kauai! This island is known for the sheer amount of rain it gets all year-round, so it's no wonder that the whole island is beautiful shades of green. If you remember what Jurassic Park looked like - that's exactly what most of Kauai looks like!
First library stop - Lihue Library! YA librarian Sierra Hampton-Eng and Branch Manager Carolyn (I hope I got this right!) really made us feel so welcome and right at home! They had a great meeting room set aside for us and really worked hard to get our talks into the local press!
We then moved on to our second stop at the Hanapepe Library - in the "Biggest Little Town in Kauai"!
Although this was one of the smallest libraries we've attended, the attendance was amazing! The community really expressed sincere interest in our work and they filled out the entire reading area! Branch Manager Karen Ikemoto was an extraordinarily gracious host, making our venture out to Hanapepe so worthwhile!
For more photos of our neighbor island library tours, check out our flickr gallery!
We have one more island to hit today! More later!
*@_____@*!
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