This summer’s reading program was “Adventure Begins at Your Library”. This was a national program that any library registered with CSLP (Collaborate Summer Library Program) could participate in and use their promotional tools. They provide training sessions on two different levels to help libraries prepare for the program. It starts with around six libraries that get together and find different program ideas for activities. Afterwards those libraries host training at their libraries for other librarians. This year the Lennox Community Library was one of the six libraries chosen to host and had a full house of librarians from the eastern side of the state attending and ready to hear ideas. During the collaborating session we came up with our Passport Program.
Since the theme was “Adventure”, why not send the kids on one! The library teamed up with 30 businesses from Lennox, Worthing and Chancellor and asked them stamp or sign a kid’s passport when they visited the business. We also challenged the kids that if they visited another library in the state, we would give 5 points per stamp instead of just 1 for a business. For those traveling even further, say if they went out of state and visited a library and got them to stamp it, they would get 10 points. The kids had a blast! One grandparent drove children around to visit a few libraries right in the area. She said it was neat to see the other libraries and what they have going on. Cheyenne Chontos, Director of the Harrisburg Public Library, sent us an email about how fun it is to see our kids and stamp their passports.
The summer reading program officially kicked off on May 28 and continued through summer to July 27th. We supplied reading logs if they wanted, and they tracked the minutes they read or are reading to depending on their age and reading capabilities. Starting on June 3rd, the library opened a store where families could redeem minutes for prizes. Every twenty minutes they read earned a ticket to spend. We had two sisters that worked hard and earned large squishmallows. There were some that needed eighty tickets to redeem. That means they needed to read 1600 minutes. The look on their faces when they accomplished was AMAZING! We ended the summer with logging 134,740 minutes redeeming then 6,737 tickets. This year we ran out of prizes with a couple of days left. This was the highest number of minutes we have logged in the 8 years I have been here. Each year it has gone up, but this year it doubled. Prizes were made possible by donations, grants and some of our annual budget.
The goal at the library is to be sure we offer activities/events going on from the time school gets out to just before school starts. So, in addition to the reading program, we offer different craft activities in the mornings and a movie in the afternoon, Mondays through Thursdays. This way parents know ahead of time if they need to find something for the kids to do, there is something going on the at library. We also hire different performers to come each year as well. This year we had a magician, musician, comedian, zookeeper, and such come in and entertain the kids. These programs are free to the public and everyone is welcome to join us.
Adults and Teens are encouraged to read at least ten books between Memorial Day and Labor Day. They can read more than that if they want or should we say track if they wish. We offer punch cards and when you have read that 10th book turn your card in for a chance to win gift cards or books. This summer we had eleven teen cards turned in for 110 books and adults were sixty cards turned in for 600 books.
At the end of all this we celebrated in July with a walking taco family night. We usually hold this outdoors but due to the extreme heat the night of we used the cafetorium. It worked great as we were able to still enjoy some socializing and games for everyone. And of course, Eric Rops came through with dessert. It’s always fun to see him show up with ice cream treats for the kids.
We are already starting to plan next summer’s fun so be sure to watching our website and Facebook page for not only the summer reading activities but other activities we host throughout the school year as well.