Picturing America for Public Libraries

We hosted three storytime sessions for three, four, and five year olds. The themes of each storytime revolved around a painting from the collection. In November 2008, we discussed Voting for President with one group of preschoolers. We highlighted George Washington as the first President of the United States by featuring the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. The children particularly enjoyed the significance of the sword which shows that "he protects the people of America," as stated by one of the children. We also shared two books with the young patrons, "Duck for President," by Doreen Cronin and "A Picture Book of George Washington," by David Adler. Also in November, we shared the story of Squanto and "The Story of the Water Spider," two Native American stories, highlighting "Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-Pa--Mandan," by George Catlin. The children immediately identified the chief by the way he was depicted by the artist as larger than the other tribe members. In February, our 3-5's storytime featured Abraham Lincoln, by Alexander Gardner. We read "A. Lincoln and Me," by Louise Borden and "Our Abe Lincoln," adapted by Jim Aylesworth. Children and parents enjoyed the use of the artwork in our storytimes, and still talk about these three events when they visit the library.

A number of teens participated in a Teen Art Scavenger Hunt. Ten Picturing America reproductions were on display in Southwick Public Library's Community Room on March 30. Teens received a sheet of questions about the art on display and were encouraged to use any library materials including the internet and the Grove Art website to help them to answer the questions about the artworks in the allotted one hour of the program. All scavenger hunt questionnaires with correct answers were entered in a drawing for free movie tickets.

Submitted by Margo Storozuk