Math has been known to drive people to madness, but the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library hopes to make that a thing of the past.
The library will host the first Math Madness Fun Night of the summer on Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the meeting room at the library.
Children’s Librarian Ashlee Williams said the Math Fun Night is open to students of all ages who wanted to learn more about math, or freshen up their math skills.
“It is going to be a lot of fun,” Williams said.
She explained the math night was going to be tied into the Summer Reading Program, which starts on June 3. She said the state library wanted libraries to focus more on science, math, engineering and technology in the summer programs.
To go along with this, the ECCPL will hold three Math Fun Nights through the summer. In addition to Thursday’s event, other sessions will be on June 26 and July 24.
“We will be doing this over the summer,” Williams said. “It is suggested that students keep up with lessons over the summer so they don’t lose what they learned during the school year.”
Thursday night’s Math Fun Night will feature giant dice, fraction pizza, glow-in-the-dark geometry and videos, along with other activities.
Williams said the videos were provided by Bedtime Math, and could be found on YouTube. The program also has a smart phone app and can be accessed through social media.
“Parents can register online and they will be sent a math problem each day for their children to do,” she said. “The goal is that whenever they read a bedtime story, they will also have one math problem for them to do.”
Each time a child completes a math problem, it is logged online; if all the math problems have been completed at the end of the summer, the child wins a flashlight from Bedtime Math.
The problems are divided into three age groups; wee ones, little kids and big kids.
The library’s math skills assistance will not end when the summer is over. Williams said the library will have tutors available during the school year to provide help with math home work for students from preschool to high school.