People in the community are reminded to keep an eye out for painted rocks that may be hidden throughout Colusa County that inspire them to read and share stories.
More than a dozen children and adults painted rocks last week at the Colusa County Free LIbrary branches in Williams, Colusa, Maxwell, Arbuckle, Grimes, and Stonyford to kick off “Reading Rocks Colusa County,” a campaign that will continue through the end of February.
“The idea is that we use the stories we know to inspire designs – and to use the designs we see to inspire us to think of stories,” said Literacy Coordinator Pam DaGrossa.
Inspired by books like “Hello Farm,” by Maddie Frost; “Mr. Mischief and the Leprechaun,” by Adam Hargreaves; and “Roxaboxen” by Alice Mclerran, participants painted rocks with animals, rainbows, plants, and other designs; others painted words of inspiration. Some painted rocks with specific quotes or characters from their favorite books; others, like 4-year-old Hazel Kingsley, painted her rocks to look like rocks.
‘Whatever they do, it’s coming from a creative place,” DaGrossa said.
The project was built on the popularity of rock painting, the joy associated with reading, and the desire to build a connection between people in the community.
At the Colusa Library on Thursday, participants said they would hide their rocks for others to find, hoping people are inspired to take them home to read a book inspired by the design – and then replace them for others to find.
“I’m going to take it outside when I’m done playing with it – and bring it back in at night,” said Kingsley, who painted three rocks on Thursday.
Ivon Hernandez, 13, who painted colorful and intricate designs, said she plans to keep her rocks to enjoy for a little before hiding them.
Her 7-year-old sister, Yanny, also artistic, added the word “smile” to her design, as inspiration to anyone who finds her rock outside.
Others said they plan to read to their rocks as if they were pets, then hide them outside with hope that anyone who finds them will do the same.
DaGrossa said the idea of the Reading Rocks is to encourage youth and children to read books and share stories.
The Library supplied paint, brushes, and the rocks, recovered from the Yuba Goldfields, for the Reading Rocks events.
The Colusa County Free Library will continue to provide rocks, while supplies last, during normal library hours for people to take home, decorate, read to, and place in the community through February, or people can look for interesting rocks to paint on their own, DaGrossa said.
The rocks serve as a reminder that hundreds of great books are waiting to be read and hundreds of great stories are waiting to be told.
While at the libraries, many participants signed up for other upcoming Colusa County literacy programs, including “Raising a Reader,” a program for preschool children from birth to age 5.
The Colusa and Arbuckle programs have reached capacity, but there are still openings in Maxwell and Williams.
“The Williams program will be fully bilingual for the first time,” DaGrossa said. “It will be in Spanish and English. Gabby Silva and I will be doing that program together, which is pretty exciting.”
Raising a Reader is a program that helps families build shared reading habits and get in the habit of using the library.
During the 10-week program, families will pick out four new books to read each week and return them the following week for four more.
At the end of the program, families will keep the bag and be given four new books of their own to help build their home libraries. ■