Hillsborough librarians' Animal Antics program brings kids face-to-face with Florida Aquarium species’

TAMPA, Fla. - Librarians across Hillsborough County enter the school break hoping to battle the dreaded summer slide in kids. They fight it using a variety of free activities and programs. 

"Summer can be tricky, because your kid is out of school," Hillsborough County librarian Chely Cantrell said. "Either they're at home, you're searching for things for them to do, or maybe they're not really having an easy time wanting to do something educational or wanting to learn something." 

A program that aims to help in that battle is "Animal Antics." Through a partnership with The Florida Aquarium, kids can attend a 30-minute class featuring animals from the aquarium. 

"They'll be able to interact with these people on maybe more of a one-on-one basis than they would if they were just to travel downtown and spend the day at the aquarium," Cantrell said. 

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At a session featuring a lizard and snake, kids asked the questions you’d expect kids to ask. Questions like: What do they eat, do they bite or how big do they get? They are also able to touch some of the animals. 

Librarians hope the encounter sparks an interest in learning more about the animals. 

"I hope for it every single minute of every day," Cantrell said. "I hope that they leave that program, and they go to one of our librarians, and they say, ‘we just saw this amazing animal, and we want to learn all about it.’"

For more information on events with Hillsborough County Public Libraries, visit hcplc.org/events.

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