SOUTHWICK – In order to help keep children engaged and lift their spirits, the Southwick Public Library started a “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” program and is offering a stop motion animation contest for older children.

Library Director Lynn Blair explained that the “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” reading program is a go at your own pace program to get children to read 1,000 books with their families before they go to kindergarten.

“The idea is that parents can read with their children and to read 1,000 books before kindergarten. If there is a book that their child loves, they can read the same one over again. You can go as quickly or as slowly as you want, every time you finish a book, you just mark it down,” she said.

As families reach different milestones in the program, Blair said they will be eligible for different prizes.

“As people work their way through it we will have certain milestones with different prizes, so there is a little incentive for parents to keep working through it with their kids,” Blair said.

Signups for the “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” run indefinitely.

Along with the reading program, Blair said the library’s Young Adult Specialist, Heather Paparella, is running a stop motion animation video contest for children in seventh through 12th grade after previously running an in-person contest.

“She did an in-person program a while ago where they made their own stop motion animations. This is something that kids can create at home and send their submissions. They’re quick little videos, they can use clay, paper cut outs and make their own short films,” she said.

Blair added that anyone can enter the contest and do not have to be Southwick residents.

Interested students have until Jan. 19 to submit their videos and the winner will receive a $20 gift card to Village Pizza.

With many in-person events on hold for the beginning of 2021, Blair said the library is trying to find different activities that do not include Zoom meetings.

“As we’re getting into 2021, we still don’t know how things are going to look as far as in person events, so we were trying to look for different things to take a shot at. I think everybody is getting a little tired of Zoom so we were looking for something people could pick up and take home to do on their own time,” she said.

Blair said that she hopes the library’s new programs help keeps spirits up as the pandemic continues.

“We are trying a whole variety of programs both educational and for fun. We know kids are stuck at home, they are bored, they want to connect, and some way to learn something new or do something fun. This has been a hard year so we’re trying to different things to keep people engaged and keep their spirits up,” she said.