Barbara Walker has been wanting to reach out to the Spanish-speaking population through the programs and services at Nancy Carson Library in North Augusta.

"We wanted to do this over the summer," said Ms. Walker, the library manager who has set up two bilingual activities in the coming weekends.

"We have a lot of people who are bilingual who use the library quite often," she said. "We thought it would be nice" to have the events.

A preschool bilingual storytime will be held Saturday and a bilingual elementary school-age story and craft time is planned for Saturday, Oct. 7.

Volunteers from Augusta's Latin Association will lead the storytime, Ms. Walker said.

"This is a good opportunity for them and us," she said.

Ms. Walker said she hopes it will be the first of many activities for the Spanish-speaking population. She said she also would like to provide other opportunities for individuals who speak other languages.

The bilingual activities are among many activities planned at the library.

The annual young-adult ghost story-writing contest is under way. Because of scheduling conflict with the use of the library's multipurpose room, the contest has been moved up this year, Ms. Walker said.

Stories about ghosts of no more than 1,000 words must be submitted by Friday, Oct. 13. Winners will be announced at a Ghostly Night of Stories at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19.

The contest is open to middle and high school pupils. Winners will receive Borders gift certificates. A $50 certificate goes to first place; a $25 certificate goes to second place; and a $15 certificate goes to third place.

A creative-writing workshop will be at 7 p.m. Thursday.

HEAR A STORY

Nancy Carson Library, 135 Edgefield Road in North Augusta, has a preschool bilingual storytime scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday and a bilingual elementary school-age story and craft time for 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, for Spanish-speaking residents. For more information, call (803) 279-5767.