Dig Into Stories This Summer: Mama Koku Brings The Dinosaur Story Store to Augusta Public Library

Augusta, Georgia: The Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System invites families to a one-of-a-kind storytelling adventure as part of its 2026 Summer Reading Program, Unearth a Story. Master Storyteller Mama Koku will bring The Dinosaur Story Store to the Headquarters Branch (823 Telfair St., Augusta, GA 30901) on Thursday, July 9, 2026 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

For this special performance, Mama Koku steps into the role of Penelope Pettaway, a world-renowned paleontologist with a knack for finding stories in the strangest places. She is bringing her Dinosaur Story Store to the library, filled with ancient mysteries and tales dug up from the earth and her own boundless imagination. True to her signature style, this is not a sit-and-listen storytime. Mama Koku is known throughout metro Atlanta for her high-energy, interactive “story-doing” performances, where audience members don’t just watch. They join her on stage to help animate the pages of the adventure themselves.

Mama Koku, also known as Donna Kokumo Buie, is a professional storyteller, teaching artist, and children’s writer with over 25 years of experience. She has performed as a featured storyteller for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Concerts for the Very Young, the Atlanta History Center, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and the Atlanta Children’s Museum. She was named Official Teller for the National Black Arts Festival’s Education Village and the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Book Fair, and co-starred in Museum Adventures with Professor Inquiry, which won a 2024 Southeast Emmy Award. Mama Koku is also the author of the picture books Zuri the Fairy and Little Black Fairy and Other Very Fairy Stories, Poems, Rhythms & Rhymes.

The Mama Koku event is free and open to all ages with no registration required. It is one of many free programs offered through ARCPLS’s Unearth a Story Summer Reading Program, which runs through July 31, 2026. Richmond County residents of all ages are encouraged to register and still have time to earn prizes. Children and teens who log 600 minutes of reading by July 31 will receive a free book, a tote bag, and a Stars & Strikes certificate, and will be entered to win a grand prize. Adults who reach the 600-minute goal will also earn a completion prize and a grand prize entry. Grand prize drawings will be held on Monday, August 3rd.

Families can register now at arcpls.beanstack.org, via the Beanstack mobile app, or at any ARCPLS location. For any questions, please call 706-821-2600.