NEWS

Final Schoharie Library Fun Friday with the Youth Bureau for the Summer

By Matthew Avitabile · August 8, 2025 · The Mountain Eagle

SCHOHARIE - Riley Walton, Suzzy Kotoku, Johanna Luhrman, Schoharie Library Director & Librarian Yvonne Keller-Baker, and Deidre Lewis in front of the Schoharie Library after their Aug. 1st I Spy Adventure. Friendly faces from the Schoharie County Youth Bureau became familiar to kids thanks to Youth Bureau Director, Cody Robinson-Bullock. Walton said it was Cody’s idea to keep staff consistent for all their library trips so kids could recognize them and anticipate who to expect to be there each week. Lewis hopes those connections will continue when kids get to see them again at future events like The Sunshine Fair. Volunteers Betsy Wright, Father Tom Zelker, Josie Ennist, Julie Lindh, Pat Clancy, and Cindi O’Bryan giving out free lunches sponsored by The Joshua Project after the Aug. 1st I Spy Fun Friday with the Schoharie County Youth Bureau at The Schoharie Library. Ennist (3rd to the right), has been spending her retirement doing as much as she can helping with Library and Joshua Project fundraising committees, at the Middleburgh site last summer, and said, “I worked in food related jobs, so I feel at home with helping with this kind of stuff.”At the Schoharie Library Fun Fridays with the Schoharie County Youth Bureau I Spy Adventure on August 1st, participants who completed the scavenger hunt got to pick a prize, get traced on the paper roll laid out along the sidewalk, and draw and write messages within their traced silhouettes. The scavenger hunt led them inside the library to find a stapler and bookshelf, to make social connections visiting Riley, Ms. D, & Ms. Yvonne, and outside to seek hidden objects like a compass and nature including a tree and searching until coming across a live ant.

SCHOHARIE — The Schoharie County Youth Bureau finished their Schoharie Library Fun Fridays summer programming series on Friday August 1st. Schoharie Library Director & Librarian Yvonne Keller-Baker (Miss Yvonne) said, “Schoharie Library’s been working with the Youth Bureau for 3 years, and at the beginning of summer planning we involved the other County libraries so they could make plans with the Youth Bureau to program all over the County. And we also have the County-wide calendar that has all the library events on it, so everything is in one place for families. We’re in it together around here!”

Riley Walton was among the Schoharie County Youth Bureau’s August 1st Fun Friday staff, assisting kids with I Spy scavenger hunt activities. Walton noted that libraries are great community hubs and was happy to be at all four Schoharie County libraries (Schoharie, Middleburgh, Cobleskill, & Sharon Springs) this year, witnessing more and more families come out for Fun Fridays each week.

Reflecting on this summer’s library events, Walton explained that, especially with the younger age groups, “It’s much more about having fun than about strict programming… A lot of the time we just have props laid out and they just do their own thing.” When choosing crafts for the events, the Youth Bureau aimed to give kids the opportunity to be entertained and creative, to which Walton explained, “We like a lot of the hands-on stuff to help with their fine motor skills and have a little bit of independence while they do things.” Walton added the kids get to run around, have a good time, think a bit, and “They have to put some muscle into it, put some effort in, and then it’s a lot more rewarding when they actually complete what we have them do.”

Youth Bureau library activities this summer started with tents and gear set up for a camping exploration adventure themed week, and included an obstacle course, pool day water games, making bookmarks and mini books to decorate and color in, Shrinky Dinks, and Walton said Perler Beads were a big hit!

While Fun Fridays with the Schoharie County Youth Bureau are now done for this summer, 10 AM Storytime with Miss Yvonne continues each Friday, and free lunches sponsored by the Joshua Project at Schoharie Library will be available for two more weeks (until August 15th) each Tuesday and Friday from noon - 1 PM.

If you haven’t signed up for the Summer Reading Program yet, there is still time. In fact, Miss Yvonne helped a patron sign up during the August 1st event. You simply track the days you read and attend library events on the sheet you get you when you sign up. Then, remember to bring your sheet with you each time you visit Schoharie Library to receive fun fidget/squish-toy or Stewart’s ice cream coupon prizes, and enter tickets for grand prize drawing opportunities. Schoharie Library is located at 103 Knower Ave. and more of their exciting upcoming events can be found on their website and Facebook page, including their recently posted September 6th Book Sale & Trustee Treasures Porch Sale from 9 AM - 3 PM.

The Schoharie County Youth Bureau will be in Cobleskill for the whole week of The Sunshine Fair. Walton confirmed you will be able to stop by their booth for information about their programming, what to expect next summer, where they get their funding, and how they use that funding to benefit the community. Walton added, “We are also going to be helping out with the livestock shows. So, we do announcing, we help with all the agriculture, and everything they might need in regard to that.”