Movie-goers wait in line for popcorn at the library card celebration at the Kent Theatre.

Mike Metzger, who started the first library card roundup in 1997, was on hand to help celebrate this year’s event at the Kent Theatre. Here he poses with two Cedar Trails students.

It was  19 years ago—in 1997—that Mike Metzger had the idea to get first graders in the Cedar Springs Public School district to sign up for a library card. And every year since, the Cedar Springs Public Library has partnered with Kent District Library to reach out and get the job done.

This year the Cedar Springs Library partnered with both the Nelson/Sand Lake Library and the Spencer Township Library in sending home about 300 letters to the area first graders and in paying a share of the cost to get them in free to a movie at the Kent Theatre as part of the celebration.

Each year the Kent Theatre holds a special movie night on a Monday and Tuesday for the first graders and their families as part of the celebration, and they provide free popcorn to first graders. This year they showed “Norm of the North.” About 268 attended.

March is reading month—which means it’s time for all first graders to get a chance to sign up for their very first library card.

Cedar Springs Public Library and KDL’s Sand Lake/Nelson Township Library team up to visit kids at school and get them excited about this new privilege.

Shannon Vanderhyde, Youth parapro at Cedar Springs, and Sara Magnuson, youth parapro at Sand Lake/Nelson Township, recently visited 11 first grade classrooms at Cedar Trails Elementary, and one at Creative Technologies Academy to hand out the envelopes with information on what to do. Algoma Christian will also receive a visit this year.

The cards are good at any library in Michigan.

To celebrate, all first graders get to attend a movie March 3 and 4 at The Kent Theatre for free, with other family members welcome for $3 each. The movie is “The Nut Job.” Doors open at 5:30 with the movie starting at 6:30. A child’s library card or family library card entitles the first-grader to a free small popcorn that night. Just present your card at the concession stand.