Photo by Dwayne Black Jim Cruise, the Spoon Man, entertains children at the Marshall-Lyon County Library on Thursday.

MARSHALL — Jim Cruise, the Spoon Man, shared his comedy and skills playing the spoons with kids at the Marshall-Lyon County Library on Thursday.

Cruise has been playing the spoons for more than 35 years, and has performed all over the U.S.

Jessica McCarlson, the children’s librarian at MLCL, said they coordinated with other libraries in the Plum Creek regional library system to bring the Spoon Man to the area.

“Then, as a system, we applied for Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage funding,” for the performances, she said.

McCarlson said Cruise talked about the importance of reading and education on his website, which helped make him a good fit for the summer reading program.

“Obviously, as a library we are eager to have others visit to champion the value of literacy,” McCarlson said. “Plus, we knew he would be funny. One of the best sounds is a room full of people of all ages laughing together.”

So far, Cruise has performed at several area libraries, including in Tyler, Tracy, Ivanhoe and Hendricks. In the next couple of days, he will be appearing in Fulda, Luverne, Slayton and Mountain Lake.