POCATELLO — They didn’t have to determine if Col. Mustard did it in the kitchen with a candlestick, but youngsters at Marshall Public Library were involved in a mystery of their own Friday night.

    Nine girls and one boy gathered together for a book fair, but the moment they arrived, the doors were locked and everyone was rushed into the next room.

    Once they all got settled in their seats, a detective began speaking.

    “I am sorry to tell you that the reason that our book fair has been cancelled is that… the author has been found dead,” the detective said.

    All of this was part of Murder Mystery night at the library as part of the Summer Reading Program. The library is working hard to encourage youth of all ages to keep up on their reading skills during the summer.

    Librarian Kath Ann Hendricks acknowledges the importance of encouraging children and teens to read throughout the summer in order to preserve their reading ability for the school year.  She said it is easy for youth to slack on reading and writing while they aren’t in school, and that is the whole point of the Summer Reading Program.

     Librarians at the Marshall Public Library encourage kids to enjoy reading. All summer, the library has offered activities for those children who love reading. These activities all follow the theme “Own the Night.”

    So far this summer, the librarians have also put on a Dream Poetry Night as well as several other activities. When kids do well at reading and participate in the exciting activities, they are awarded with prizes.

    On Friday night at the Murder Mystery party, children were given prizes such as paperback books, water bottles, T-shirts, Papa Murphy’s coupons, and bookmarks.

    The library hosts this program each summer and although the current theme is “Own the Night,” the theme does change every year.

    Although Friday night’s Murder Mystery activity was the last of the summer, the library is still going to have activities throughout the fall such as Book Babies Storytime for 3 to 5-year-olds, on Wednesdays or Thursday Storytimes.     

    For the elementary kids, there is the All Write! and Write On! activities. A schedule with dates and times for those activities can be picked up at the Marshall Public Library at 113 S. Garfield. You can also visit www.marshallpl.org for more information.