In keeping with the “Build a Better World” theme for the summer reading program, young readers spent part of their morning on Tuesday learning ways to help protect the environment.

The special guest for Tuesday’s Story Time session at the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library was Ranger Meg Guy from Roan Mountain State Park.

As part of her presentation, Guy spoke to the children about three of the values rangers at the park like to practice and teach to visitors — Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Everyone, even children, can make a positive impact when they take action to protect the environment from litter and unnecessary garbage, she said.

Guy asked the children to help her come up with some ways to reduce the amount of trash that makes it way to landfill each day, to reuse items instead of throwing them away, and how to recycle items to be used again. The young readers provided a variety of creative answers to Guy’s questions.

To help spark their creativity, Guy showed the children some of the fun crafts she has made using items that were destined for the dump — such as bird feeders made from plastic bottles. She even recruited some of the young readers to help her play some music on instruments made from recycled items such as a coffee container, aluminum can, toilet paper roll and a tissue box.

Guy provided the children with some hand outs featuring instructions for crafts they can make at home using items that would otherwise be thrown away.

“The next time you go to throw something away, I want you to stop and think about it for just a minute,” Guy told the children. “Where does it go, and what can I do to build a better world?”

The annual  Summer Reading Program will conclude next week with a special celebration at the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library for the children who have participated in the program.