To help keep children busy during the summer, the City of Moscow is partnering with the Latah County Library to present the Entertainment in the Park series.

Over the month of June, Thursday evenings can be spent at the East City Park in Moscow enjoying family-friendly entertainment and live music performed by the Moscow Arts Commission Band.

The Entertainment in the Park series is a part of the Latah County Library Summer Reading Program. All the aspects of the Children’s Entertainment Series are educational and entertaining to help children retain the skills they learned during the school year.

“Summer is really for the kids,” Stacie Echanove, youth services manager of the Latah County Library District, said. “This is a fun way for families to do something together and build memories.”

Kathleen Burns, the program coordinator for the Entertainment in the Park series, said she believes these evenings in the park are great for young families to just enjoy the outdoors together.

“Families can pack up a picnic and enjoy the park and the playground,” Burns said. “Plus, it gives the kids the opportunity to experience live music and entertainment, which is so important for cultural growth.”

After an hour of family friendly, educational entertainment, the MACB will take the stage to perform classic pieces the audience will enjoy, Burns said.

Albert Miller, director of the MACB, thinks it’s important for the children to see how the music they listen to is made.

“If you don’t go see music live you don’t have the opportunity to appreciate it as much,” Miller said. “Radio and listening to music at home is great, but we get desensitized to how the music is created.”

The Entertainment in the Park series begins at 6 p.m. starting this Thursday. The Children’s Entertainment Series will take place at 6 p.m. and at 7 p.m. the MACB will perform. Admission is free and open to the public.

“These kinds of events are so great for the kids to learn when they’re not in school,” Miller said. “We so often see school as work, but at the park the learning and growth is for our own personal benefit rather than something we’re forced to do.”