Library kicks off summer reading program with wildlife

When educator and animal keeper Joseph Kerschner presented Tator Tot, a 10-month-old capybara, to a group of children at the CVIC Hall on June 26, he was surprised to learn that they knew what the animal was called.

“That’s amazing,” he said. “When I was a kid a capybara was something you only heard about in a trivia game or something, but it’s amazing you all know what this is.”

Kerschner said a  capybara resembles a giant guinea pig from South America and is the largest rodent on the planet, weighing as much as 100 pounds or more. 

Tator Tot was one of the animals presented during the Douglas County Library’s wildlife show and is the kickoff for the summer reading challenge. Other animals included an opossum, snapping turtle, a lemur, a bull terrier, an owl and an alligator.

The show was presented by Conservation Ambassador Inc. Wild Things.

The company is a worldwide conservation program located in Paso Robles, Calif., that provides a safe home for displaced, abused, abandoned or permanently injured wild and exotic animals. The Wild Things is a program for the sanctuary to educate the public about the animals.

“We give a home to rescued wildlife, but our primary focus is to do education in schools,” said Kerschner. “So, throughout the school year we conduct programs, and then in the summer we are doing summer reading programs and anything like that, anything where the kids are gathering where we can educate them about the animals.”

Sponsored in part by Friends of the Douglas County Library and the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, the summer reading program is continues through July 31 at the Minden and Zephyr Cove branches for children of all ages.

With the theme “Adventure at your library,” children and teens are encourage to maintain and build their reading skills during summer break through activities and reading and earn prizes for their efforts. Visit https://library.douglascountynv.gov/ for more information and https://douglascountynv.beanstack.org/reader365 to set up an account.

The reading challenge will end July 31 with a closing celebration with Northern Nevada Scottish Highland Dancers 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kahle Community Center at Stateline and 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the CVIC Hall in Minden.

Both the Minden and Zephyr Cove branches of the Douglas County Public Library will be closed Thursday for Independence Day. The Minden branch reopens at 10 a.m. Friday while Zephry Cove reopens 8 a.m. Tuesday.