 After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Pot County Library District is continuing their in-person storytime program. But now, the library is requiring masks for anyone ages two and up to ensure the safety of participants. Well, yeah, we started back this week with babies and toddlers and pre-K. I think it's been a year since our first in-person story hour. Pot County Children's Library and Sierra Dotson says for those who aren't familiar with storytime, the main goal is to get kids prepared for school. And some of the things that we do is we read books and we always go over a literacy tip with them. And it's just little things that help them with their reading comprehension and things that they can take with them when they start school. Other activities include singing songs and playing games. At the end of every storytime, Dotson says they move their focus to socialization activities. We get out all of our toys and the kids can just play together and they get to learn how to share and play well with others before they start school. Well, story hour is definitely a fun time. It's not just reading books. We try to get two books in there and we sing songs, we dance, we color, we do crafts. So it makes them excited to come to the library. Here at Pikeville Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Institute, we have assembled a comprehensive team of cardiac specialists bringing expertise from all regions of the nation and the world. We have coupled that with cutting edge technology, providing them the best equipment and operating rooms available. The result is comprehensive cardiac care for the people of our region that is second to none. The Heart and Vascular Institute at Pikeville Medical Center. Dotson and Cheney say that the library wants to make sure they can keep their doors open to the public so they are requiring masks to be worn inside during storytime. But if cases do continue to rise, the library will move back to their virtual platform. So as a part of our job to keep everybody safe, we do try to listen to what the governor has to say about the mask mandates and also the Pike County Health Department. We always try to stay on top of it just to make sure everyone is going to be safe. Cheney adds that each storytime will include a different theme tying into this story that they're reading. Our first theme was all about me so it was about like building confidence and learning the kids names and they did a little self-portrait. Next week's theme is learning about the library so all of our books are library based and we're really going to encourage getting their own library cards. They're going to learn about the library and how it functions and all the different things that we provide. For more information on storytime, visit the Pike County Library's Facebook page or call 606-437-6001. The storytime program is available at all Pike County Library branches. If you can, if you have time, definitely bring your kids to Story Hour. We have fun, it's good for them, it's good for the community, it's good for the library, so if you have the opportunity, bring them out. Reporting for Mountaintop News, I'm Jeremy Justice.