By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Navy blue, sky blue, turquoise blue.
Thursday was dubbed blue day at the pre-school storytime at the Niles District Library.
The children came decked out in their blue clothes, ready to listen and learn all about the color blue.
For the past five weeks the storytime has focused on specific color, such as red, yellow, orange and green. The six week long Rainbow Connection theme will conclude with the color purple on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
During the storytime Children's Librarian Darlene Jackson reads different books and poems to the children that focus on the color of the week.
With the color blue, they learned of Blue Footed Boobies birds, which live on the Galapagos Islands located off the coast of South America.
They talked about the blue things that we can see everyday, such as blue crayons, people wearing blue jeans, blue eyes, blue birds, and even the blue shoes that Jackson wore to complete her blue outfit for the day.
The pre-school storytime is held every Wednesday at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m. in the Children's Department at the Niles District Library located at 620 E. Main St. Registration for preschool begins Monday, Feb. 14.
Right now the department also has a reading program going on through the month of February, which has the I'm a read-a-saurus theme.
For their efforts the children are allowed to fill out a raffle ticket for each book they read, which gives them the chance to win one of three dino-mite prizes.
The department offers yet another storytime that is geared towards families. It is held once a month on Thursdays and begins at 6:30 p.m.
The Thursday evening party is centered around literary characters such as Tom Sawyer, Madeline, Charlie &the Chocolate Factory and Peter Pan and is geared for all ages.
The next evening story time is Thursday, Feb. 10 and will feature the book Alice in Wonderland.
And finally on Saturday, Feb 19, it will be a little sunnier at the Niles District Library. This is because the Children's Department is hosting a Soak Up the Sun Beach Party.
Author, Barbara Morrow, will celebrate her book, "A Good Night for Freedom" at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26. All day they will have take home crafts, door prizes, and educational information about the Underground Railroad.
Also the Chess Club meets at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday mornings, Feb. 5 and 19. Experts and beginners welcome.