Chelan,WA - Now that warm summer weather is here, the Chelan Library is bringing a piece of the Arctic to the valley with an evening of study focusing on polar bears. Children will learn about the polar bear's habitat, food sources and life cycle, as well as look at environmental factors that have led to the polar bear being listed as a “threatened” animal under the Endangered Species Act.

Spots & Stripes Fur-Ever, a new youth program of the Chelan Public Library aimed at fourth- through eighth-graders, makes its debut on Tuesday, July 1st at 6:00 p.m.

 The Spots & Stripes program is developed to fill a “gap” in youth programs offered by the library. “We have twice-weekly storytimes for our pre-schoolers, the Summer Reading Program for our grade-schoolers, and Third Thursday Pop 'n' Poetry for our high-schoolers,” says librarian Gloria Groves. “We wanted to develop a program to serve our upper-elementary and middle school age group.”

As word gets out, kids are getting excited about the upcoming event. “We've had children here in the library, looking for and checking out books on polar bears to get a head start on learning about them before the event,” says Groves.

Spots & Stripes Fur-Ever will be held the first Tuesday of every month at 6:00 p.m., and each session will feature a different animal.

For more information, contact the library at 682-5131 or at .