After a great response last year, the Forsyth County Public Library will offer more special programs for children and teenagers during spring break this week.

In 2011, about 830 youths participated in the first-time spring break special offerings, said Vanessa Cowie, youth services coordinator.

“I was very happy with how it worked last year,” Cowie said. “We had a great lineup last time, and we took some of our great ones from last year, but we couldn’t repeat all of them because we wanted to add some new ones.”

Presentations from Keep Forsyth County Beautiful and Forsyth County’s Humane Hearts Pet Therapy Program will be given at the library for the first time.

KFCB will offer “Dragonfly Life Cycle” for ages 4 to 9 and “Watershed Enviroscape” for ages 7 to 11 at each of the three branches.

Trained therapy dogs will be on hand for “Dogs 101,” an information session on approaching unfamiliar dogs and taking care of canine pets. They will be presented by volunteers of the Humane Society.

Stranger danger and fire safety programs return this year, as will “Puppet Pizzazz,” a storytime for ages 3 to 8.

Teen programs include a duct tape craft workshop on Monday and a cookie décor war on Thursday, both of which require registration and are nearly full, Cowie said.

For many of the programs, Cowie noted learning doesn’t have to stop within the branches.

“While they’re here, they can take something home with them to extend what they’ve enjoyed or found out about during the program,” she said.

Two movies for children will be shown at Hampton Park library, with showtimes today and Wednesday.

Teens can also watch a feature film on Saturday at the northern branch.

“The past few years we’ve heard a lot about stay-cations,” Cowie said. “We want to have something here for the kids who are out of school.

“The library is a cool place to visit any time, but when the kids are out of school, they have some time on their hands to spend some time at the library, and we wanted to have something there for them.”

Programs and times
Here are some of the highlights of this week’s spring break programming at the Forsyth County Public Library:

• Dogs 101
Cumming branch — 11:30 a.m. Monday
Hampton Park branch — 1:30 p.m. Friday
Sharon Forks branch —1:30 p.m. Thursday

• Dragonfly Life Cycle (ages 4-9)
Cumming —2 p.m. Monday
Hampton Park — 2 p.m. Wednesday
Sharon Forks — 2 p.m. Tuesday

• Fire Safety Program (ages 6-9)
Cumming — 2 p.m. Thursday
Hampton Park — 2 p.m. Tuesday
Sharon Forks — 2 p.m. Wednesday

• Puppet Pizzazz (ages 3-8)
Cumming — 11 a.m. Wednesday
Hampton Park — 3:30 p.m. Friday
Sharon Forks — 11 a.m. Monday and Tuesday

• Stranger Danger I (ages 4-7)
Cumming — 10:30 a.m. Monday
Hampton Park — 1 p.m. Tuesday
Sharon Forks — 10:30 a.m. Wednesday

• Stranger Danger II (ages 8-12):
Sharon Forks — 11:30 a.m. Wednesday

• Storybook Quilts
Cumming — 10 a.m.-noon Friday
Hampton Park — 10 a.m.-noon Saturday
Sharon Forks — 10 a.m. –noon Thursday

• Watershed Enviroscape (ages 7-11)
Cumming — 3 p.m. Monday
Hampton Park — 3 p.m. Wednesday
Sharon Forks — 3 p.m. Tuesday

For more information about these and other upcoming library programs, visit the Web site at www.forsythpl.org.