Book club students pause to smile for the camera during the Middle School Book Club Meetup event.
On May 6th, a shared love of reading brought over seventy middle school students several different schools throughout Casper together for a special event.
The first-ever Middle School Book Club Meetup was held at the Casper College Goodstein Foundation Library, where the middle schoolers from Casper Classical Academy, Centennial Middle School, CY Middle School, Dean Morgan Middle School, and Woods Learning Center gathered to discuss their favorite books, participate in fun activities, and make new friends. This inaugural event highlighted how books can serve as a bridge between different groups, encouraging empathy, creativity, and friendship among middle schoolers.
“The Middle School Book Club Meetup was a wonderful way to get all of the middle school book club students together,” said Lorene Heinzen of the Natrona County Library. “They will eventually be in high school, and other than sports, rarely interact with one another. The book club students generally keep to themselves, and this is a great opportunity for them to make connections with students from other schools.”
Middle school students from throughout Casper gathered to celebrate their love of reading.
The event was organized by the middle school librarians from Natrona County School District #1, the teen specialists from Natrona County Library, and the librarians from Casper College Goodstein Foundation Library.
Students had the opportunity to not only make new friends, but connect with old friends, as well.
“One of my students from Centennial ran into an elementary school friend from four years prior, and they got to catch up! It was such a great time!” said Lorene.
Several students won prizes for their trivia expertise.
The festivities kicked off with book trivia followed by a book swap. Students were asked to bring a book club book to exchange with students from other schools. Everyone left with a new-to-them book. After the book swap, students went on a tour of the college library and had a pizza lunch. They showed off their skills with more book trivia, and the winners received some pretty cool swag and treats. The event ended with a summer reading promotion and scratch art bookmark craft.
“The Middle School Book Club Meetup was a huge success,” said Chelsie Troutman. “We hope this will become an annual tradition, fostering a community where young readers from different schools can connect, learn, and grow together.”
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