Manchester library hosts “Chick Days” program through May

The Manchester Community Library, 138 Cemetery Avenue, is gearing up for a dinosaur-themed summer reading program with the closest living relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex – the chicken.

Thanks to a grant from the Children’s Literacy Foundation, “Chick Days at MCL” will lead program participants through the stages of hatching eggs with hands-on workshops and chicken-themed story times, all while a dozen eggs incubate in the children’s library. The workshops will take place on each Saturday in May and will be led by children’s library assistant and chicken farmer Karen Huerta.

The “Chick Days at MCL” program aims to spark curiosity and build background knowledge on animal life cycles and farming. Across the four Saturday workshops, children and families will participate in the Library’s “brooding” process. Participants will dissect raw eggs, assemble and learn to use egg candlers, build a brooder box, and finally meet the newly hatched chicks.

Huerta and Youth Services librarian Carson Schafer worked together to develop the series. The goal is to walk participants through the changes happening inside the eggs and the factors necessary for incubation to succeed.

The Saturday workshop schedule is May 9, 12 pm, meet the eggs; May 16, 11 am, egg candling; May 23, 11 am, build a brooder box; and May 30, 11 am, hatch day.

Each workshop will begin with a short story time, featuring picture books such as “Shake a Legg, Egg,” by Kurt Cyrus, and “The Problem with Chickens,” by Bruce McMillan. By starting each workshop with reading, it reinforces the idea of books as a source for answers to questions. Linking T. rex to chickens will raise questions about evolution and biology. There will also be a special “Chick Days” story time during the regular preschool story time on Tuesday, May 12, at 10:30 am.

The program will reward reading for all ages. Patrons will be able to suggest potential chick names after submitting short book reviews. This initiative will be a fun way to promote literacy, allowing even those unable to attend the workshops to take part in the program and feel connected to the growing chicks.

Following the program, the chicks will settle in at their permanent home with Huerta at Flower Brook Cottage in Rupert, with the promise to keep in touch and send updates to the community that helped hatch them. All are invited to meet the fertilized eggs at the first “Chick Days” workshop on Saturday, May 9, at noon, in the MCL children’s library.

Go to mclvt.org to learn more and get involved.