LEGOmania Hits Bella Vista Public Library
By Karen Rice • krice@nwadg.com
If you like building with LEGO, you are not alone. The building blocks are one of the best-selling toys of all time. They were named the “Toy of the Century” in 2000 and they’re even in the National Toy Hall of Fame®. Official Kids Mag visited some kids having fun with LEGO at the Bella Vista Public Library, at a recent LEGOmania event.
Rylan S., a 4th grader, doesn’t even know how long has been building with LEGO and has quite a collection of them at home. Even so, he was impressed with the assortment at the library.
“Like these Bionicle ones,” he pointed out. “I know what they are, but I’ve never actually played with them.”
Rylan thinks the good thing about LEGO is that you can just keep changing it up. 
“If it falls apart once, you’re gonna be able to rebuild it again,” he said as he was building. “I just put that on, it’s like a mini gun…now I’m just gonna attach this like a jet pack.”
Three-year-old Henry B. had the most creative name for his LEGO creation, “A Super Luxurious Omnidirectional Watchamajigger.”
Kindergartner Nicholas E. liked building on the LEGO platforms. He was also impressed with the number of LEGO the library had, all spread out on a big sheet in the middle of the room.
“How did they even get this many?” he wondered.
Nicholas was filling up his LEGO building platform with a car, a tree for the car to drive around, and even a boat with a little jail inside of it.
Tyrese and his brother Pharrell are big LEGO fans. Last Saturday, Tyrese G. turned 4 and had a LEGO birthday party, and the LEGO fun continued this weekend at the library. He and 5-year-old Pharrell took full advantage of the brilliant bricks and bits, and enjoyed standing up and using the LEGO building wall.
Meanwhile, their friend Emma-Ann, 3, played with a Duplo bus, and took time out to have a little tea party.
Six-year-old Tatum W. has a lot of LEGO experience for her age, the result of growing up with three older brothers.
“They can build a whole castle,” she said of her brothers’ LEGO skills.
Tatum combed through the sea of colorful pieces like a pro and knew exactly the LEGO pieces she was looking for. 
“I’m building an island. I’m also making a boat,” she said. “I’m looking for a lantern. I have two fishes here.”
In a short amount of time she also built a very well-constructed house, complete with a see-through window and a LEGO figure living inside.
Ellen Farwell, Children’s
librarian at the Bella Vista Public Library said that LEGOmania happens the first Saturday of every month, from 10 a.m. to noon.
“Kids just come in, and they build,” she said. “Then we display their pieces with their names and they stay on display in the library for the month.”
It’s just one of the many kid’s activities offered at the library.
Pre-School Storytime happens each Friday morning at 10 a.m. with stories, silly songs and crafts. Dwayne the Bella Vista Library Dog and his owner Miss Faye often join in the fun. Local authors and guest readers visit as well.
On Tuesdays at 5 p.m. there’s Elementary Story Time for kids in grades K-5 with stories and crafts especially for them.
Kids in grades 3-5 can join “Guys Read” and “Chapter Chicks” book clubs to read and talk about great books, supplied by the library.
The boys’ book club happens on the 1st and the 3rd Mondays of the month. The girls’ is the 2nd and the 4th. The clubs start at 4:30 p.m. and last about 30 minutes.
“We try and have something for every age,” Ellen said.
She invited people to check out the library website: bvpl.org. There, kids and their families can find downloadable music, ebooks and more. There’s a language-learning program called Rocket Languages that can help you learn one (or more!) of 16 different languages online. Tumblebooks is another program available free on the site, with read-along storybooks, videos and even some read-along chapter books for older readers.
The library also has fishing poles to check out and a telescope to borrow for a week at a time for stargazing.
Head on over to the Bella Vista library for LEGOmania and other fun activities.
Bella Vista Public Library
11 Dickens Place
Bella Vista, AR
(479) 855-1753