Regularly scheduled programming includes "Toddler Time" (stories, songs and fingerlings for children three years old and under), "Preschool Story Time" (slightly longer and more advanced for older preschoolers), and reading programs meant to encourage reading for pleasure.

The Young Adult collection has materials geared toward ages 13 to 17 and is located in the Youth Services area on the first floor. There is a comfortable place for teens to hang out to study or read.

Also, the library has collected together some Internet tips for kids, as well as Internet resources for parents and teachers. In addition, we have put together a list of World Wide Web book selection tools to help parents, teachers and kids find good books for kids to read. You may also want to check out the American Library Association's "Great Web Sites for Kids," which contains lots of links to educational and fun Internet sites for kids. Feel free to take a look if you are interested.

Need a good book to pass the time away? We can help you find one! Check out one of the newest databases on our Online Databases page -- Novelist K-8 to find fiction for kids in kindergarten through 8th grade. You may also want to check out the library's Internet links for bibliophiles or use the resources in the Reader's Corner for still more good reads.

Check out Reading Rants -- Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists for some good suggestions -- or take a look at the Children's Literature Web Guide, where you'll find lots of information and resources about reading.

The summer reading program is designed to encourage reading for pleasure; it will help young people who are able to read independently retain the valuable reading skills they developed over this past school year. Preschool children too young to read may also participate and will receive credit for the books read to them. Small rewards will be given to each child for reaching specific goals.

Registration will begin again on June 1st at all four Fort Smith Public Library locations. More information will be coming soon.

For more information, please call (479)783-0229.

Storytime at Windsor Drive Branch Library is held on Mondays at 10:00a.m.

Toddler Time is held Tuesdays from 10:00 - 10:45a.m. in the Children's Department at the Main Library

Storytime at Miller Branch Library is held on Tuesdays from 2:00 - 2:45p.m.

Storytime at Dallas Branch Library is held on Wednesdays at 10:30am

Storytime at the Main Library is held on Thursdays from 10:00 - 11:00am

The movies have "Oscar," Broadway its "Tony," and the recording industry has the "Grammy," but in the field of children's literature no awards are more prestigious than the Newbery and Caldecott awards. The 2011 awards were given to the children's books published in 2010 that were judged the most distinguished. Often, additional books are designated as Newbery and Caldecott "Honor" Awards.

In addition to these awards for wonderful books for children, the American Library Association also sponsors the Coretta Scott King Awards and and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Awards for New Talent, for books which promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream". Since 2000, ALA's Young Adult Division has awarded its Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults.

For more information about the history and mission of these other ALA children's book awards, as well as previous winners, visit the Awards Page for the Association for Library Service to Children.

2011 Newbery Honor Award books include Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm; Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus; Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen; and One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia.

2011 Caldecott Honor Award went to illustrators Bryan Collier for Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, written by Laban Carrick Hill, and to David Ezra Stein for illustrating and writing Interrupting Chicken.

Laban Carrick Hill won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave.

Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books include Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers, Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes, and Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri and illustrated by Randy DuBurke. Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix, illustrated by Javaka Steptoe and written by Gary Golio was a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book.

The 2011 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award was presented to Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon for Zora and Me and to Sonia Lynn Sadler (illustrator) and Jen Cullerton Johnson (author) for Seeds of Change.

Four Printz Honor Awards were given this year to: Stolen by Lucy Christopher; Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King; Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick; and Nothing by Janne Teller.

The Pura Belpré Illustrator Award goes to Grandma's Gift illustrated and written by Eric Velasquez.

The 2011 Pura Belpré Author Honor Books are Ole! Flamenco written and illustrated by George Ancona; The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba by Margarita Engle; and 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis. 2011 Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Books are Fiesta Babies illustrated by Amy Cordova and written by Carmen Tafolia; Me, Frida, illustrated by David Diaz and written by Amy Novesky; and Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin, illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh.

The 2011 Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award was given to Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival, written by Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery and illustrated by Jean Cassels. The 2011 Arkansas Diamond Primary Honor Book was Help Me, Mr Mutt!: Expert Answers for Dogs with People Problems, written by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel and illustrated by Janet Stevens.

The 2011 Charlie May Simon Award was given to Swindle by Gordon Korman. The 2011 Charlie May Simon Honor Book was Lost and Found by Andrew Clements.