Summer - class - science - fun? Nitro Joe does it at Lincoln Public Library [July 02, 2015]  LINCOLN - Do you like to learn science all mixed up together and also mixed with fun and laughter? Well, if you do, then Nitro Joe’s classroom is the place to be. Nitro Joe’s classroom on Thursday morning was the Lincoln Public Library Children's Annex and his students were the kids who have enrolled in the library’s summer reading program. Nitro Joe, aka Joe Higgs of St. Louis, has been traveling Illinois and Missouri for years with his fun and exciting science demonstration shows, Nitro Joe Science. His shows are very popular with several libraries and schools insisting that he come back every year. His appearance at the Lincoln Public Library is an encore performance.

The Lincoln Public Library is located at 725 Pekin St., with adult nonfiction and reference materials in the historic Carnegie Building. The Annex directly behind houses adult fiction and the Youth Services Department. All library events are free and open to the public. Online, visit www.lincolnpubliclibrary.org. Hours are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Phone [phone] for adult services and 217-732-5732 for youth services.

Nitro Joe started demonstrating science at the St. Louis Science Museum when he was just fourteen. Nitro Joe estimates he performs for over ten-thousand students in Illinois each year, traveling from Chicago to the far reaches of southern Illinois. He is on the road from St. Louis to St. Joseph in Missouri.

Nitro Joe has three distinct programs. He did “It’s a Gas” during his previous visit to Lincoln. His show Thursday was “Air in Action.” His third program is “Science Mysteries Revealed.”

N.J. likes to point out that if he visits a library every year, as he often does, it will be three years before a kid will see a show for the second time. “That is very important to me. If it is three years before a youngster sees a show again, that kid will not be the same as when they saw it the first time; their brain will be different. They will take something different away with them, because they have studied and read about science and know more than they did the first time,” he said.

He recounted the story of one young man who saw his shows for ten consecutive years. The youngster related how each time he saw a repeat show he noticed a different aspect of it. It was not boring to see them multiple times.

Each minute of the one hour show is packed with science and laughter. N.J.’s goal is to present the sometimes complex aspects of science in a fun and approachable way.

According to Lincoln Public Library Director Richard Sumrall, the summer reading program has been in existence for over fifty years. Librarian Sue Rehtmeyer remembers attending the program when she was a young reader.

The program has grown over the years and now enrolls almost 450 young readers, some from outside of the LPL District. That number attests to the popularity and importance of the program. The stellar entertainment on Thursday morning just adds to the fun of reading a good book.

There are three more Thursday morning programs for summer 2015. Contact Lincoln Public Library Youth Services librarian Melissa Oxborrow for details at 217-732-5732.

[Curt Fox]