No TV, it's game night

AUBURN - Seymour Public Library was one of the local agencies participating in TV-Turnoff Week, which ran from April 23 through 29. The library planned a different activity each day of the week-long observance. Monday night's games opened with an enthusiastic round of BINGO at one of the long tables in the children's room.

The TV-Turnoff Week campaign was started in 1994 by a group that is now called TV Turnoff Network, a grass roots organization that wanted “children and adults to watch much less television in order to promote healthier lifestyles.” Jumping ahead to the present, The Center for Screen Time Awareness is partnering with TV Turnoff Network and local and national health and education agencies to work toward its goal. In Auburn, Seymour Library and the YMCA held events to encourage less TV time and more family time.

“Children spend so much screen time with television and video games and not with their families, we thought offering board games and other activities would be a good tie-in,” said Seymour's children's librarian Danette Davis. “We're doing this in conjunction with some of the Auburn school librarians. We hope people will take advantage of our activities and maybe even pick up a few good books.”