(Photo by Shelley Hanson) A boy reacts to seeing and touching a giant millipede held by Oglebay Good Zoo Animal Keeper Ali Hunter during a visit to the Paden City Public Library. Hunter brought the giant millipede, two tortoises and an orange corn snake for children to see.

Animal Keeper Ali Hunter walked around the room with an orange corn snake slithering around her arm.

As she approached the children sitting on the floor, some leaned in close to get a better look and pet the creature with two fingers. Others shrunk back into their mothers’ laps, wanting nothing to do with the cold-blooded reptile.

The visit from Hunter and the Oglebay Good Zoo snake was part of the Paden City Public Library’s Summer Reading special program on June 20.

In addition to the snake, Hunter brought two different tortoises and a giant millipede for the children to see and touch – if they dared to.

“I think it’s great that we are able to come to different communities,” Hunter said. “Libraries are probably my favorite one to do, but we also sometimes do old folks’ homes or schools.”

Hunter said, depending on the age group, her program will be more about the encounter than a lot of facts about the animals.

Library Director Danielle Ice-Davis said the summer reading program is important to keep children’s minds active during their vacation from school.

“We try to have the zoo every year because a lot of kids don’t have the opportunity to go to the zoo,” she said. “So we bring it here and everybody gets an opportunity to have some fun even if they can’t travel out of town.”

The remaining free summer reading gatherings beginning at noon include:

– June 27, Smart Center of Wheeling;

– July 11, Color with Lego;

– July 18, Art Fun;

– July 25, Colors of the Universe; and

– “Noggin” the sled dog is set to appear at 1 p.m. July 30 at the library with her handler Karen Land, who will talk about what it is like to compete in the Iditarod in Alaska.