MIDDLEBORO _ This July, the Middleborough Public Library is offering four creative-centered workshops relating to the Library’s summer reading theme “Find Your Voice,” which encourages youth to express their personality, ideas, and talents.  

Youth ages 8-13 are invited to join Lorna Brunelle, acting coach, author, advocate, and owner of Middleboro’s Burt Wood School of Performing Arts, for two separate workshops.  

The library will be hosting Acting Up! Improv Workshop on Tuesday, July 11 from 1 to 3 p.m. Brunelle will guide tweens in various improv games and role-playing activities to help them build acting skills and self-confidence, as well as teach self-advocacy in everyday situations. Participants will also have a chance to get creative with poetry and present an informal poetry slam. Music and snacks will be provided. No experience is necessary.  

Brunelle will also lead a “Find Your Voice” Vision Board Workshop on Thursday, July 13 from 1 to 3 p.m., showing tweens ages 8-13 how to craft a vision board using photos, “power words,” and colors to help them express their identity and embrace who they are. Participants should bring some images/clippings/photos and 5 "power words" that describe their goals, personality, or things they admire. Participants will also have a chance to get creative with poetry and present an informal poetry slam. All other craft supplies and snacks will be provided by the library. 

For those who love crafting, Garine Arakelian from Kulina Folk Art Creative Workshops will be at the library on Thursday, July 20 from 2 to 3 p.m. for a Curly Rainbow Soap-Making Workshop to teach teens ages 12-18 how to make fun and quirky swirl soap using a glycerin-based soap, soap curls, color, cosmetic glitter and a variety of scents. 

Arakelian will discuss the process of making cold process soap, the blending of essential oils, and the role of exfoliants in soap making. The melted soap is hot; registering children under 18 years old for this event indicates that the parent/guardian acknowledges the possibility of safety concerns to children attending the workshop.  

A Cartoon Drawing & Inking Workshop with author and illustrator Jonathan Todd will be held at the library for tweens and teens ages 10-18 on Thursday, July 27 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. 

Todd will teach tweens and teens how to draw cartoon faces, figures, and animals from multiple perspectives, as well as how to trace the drawing with bottled ink using a thin paint brush.  

Registration is required for all of these workshops. Stop by, call the Library at 508-946-2470, or email the Teen Services Librarian Christine Dargelis at cdargeli@sailsinc.org to reserve a spot.  These programs were made possible through the support of the Friends of the Middleborough Public Library.

In addition to these free programs, tweens and teens going into grades 6-12 are invited to sign up for the Library’s “Find Your Voice” Teen Summer Reading Challenge, which runs through Aug. 17.  Participants can read what they want, log their time online, and complete fun and challenging activities to earn virtual tickets for a chance to win one of six Grand Prize Packs.  

Prize Packs include an art supply gift basket donated by Middleboro’s Art on the Spot and $50 gift card packs for Amazon, Target, and GameStop. Packs also include DQ coupons, a TreeTop Adventures ticket, dual brush pens, and a journal.  

Readers can also earn free books and chances to win a mobile phone stand and Bluetooth headphones, as well as $25 Amazon gift cards just for reading. Each week that teens record time, they’ll be entered into a “Read for Ice Cream” Drawing to be eligible to win a $5 DQ gift card donated by Dairy Queen.  

For more information about summer reading, visit the Library’s Teen Summer Reading page at www.midlib.org/teensummerreading. The library is located at 102 North Main St.