PHOTOS: Helen Matthes Library Holds First Event at What Will Be its New Home

The Helen Matthes Library held their first event at the former 5/3 Bank in Effingham Thursday night. The bank building will eventually be the library's new home. That is, after a myriad of changes and remodeling takes place.

Families were invited to take a tour of the second floor of the library, which had renderings showing what the sections will look like after the remodel. The upstairs will house the kids' section, after many of the walls are knocked down to open up the floor. The elevators must also be replaced, in what will likely be the most extensive and expensive part of the project. You can watch an animated video tour of the new library below.

“My Super Power is Reading”  was the theme for the event, billed as a "night of super heroes and learning". Kids traveled from station to station, each featuring a different super hero theme, from making their own super hero mask to drawing on the "wall of super heroes".

Kids were also invited to a short Karate class, a "super foods" section, and staff from the Effingham Convention and Visitors Bureau took photos of kids as they "flew" through the city as a super hero.

At one of the stations, children were encouraged to use stamps and draw on cards that would be sent to soldiers serving overseas, as the kids below are doing.

Another station started with a ring-toss game, and kids that were able to successfully get the ring around the bottle were allowed through the "secret section" behind the old bank teller's area (which was still intact) and through a maze of different super hero objectives, like "Spiderman's Web" as seen below.

Kids at the station below were creating their own "super hero on a stick".

Children were also given samples of a variety of "super hero foods" as seen below.

Legacy Harley Davidson showed off an Avengers-themed motorcycle for kids to sit on.

More information about upcoming events at the Helen Matthes Library can be found here.