Central Library’s Summer Reading Reflection

This summer was record-breaking for the Summer Reading Program at the Central Library. We provided 124 programs for adults, teens, and children and had a total of 2,770 attendees. The most attended programs were adult's author talks, teen's computer and technology programs, children's storytimes, and book and reading programs across the board. For the Summer Reading Beanstack challenge, we exceeded our goals with 579 adult participants, 163 teen participants, 306 children participants, and a total of 1,021 books read. As always, we strive for excellence to provide the best services and experiences for our patrons.

This was the first year that we initiated the Summer Reading Program with two Kick-Off parties- one for adults and one for all ages- and two main events at the Finale. For all of these events, we filled the lobby with games, balloon art and face painting stations, arts and crafts, giveaways, and registration stations for library cards and Beanstack. The Kick-Off party for adults (June 1) concluded with an engaging author talk and meet-and-greet with New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Elle. Check out the recording of this event below.

The Kick-Off party for all ages (June 5) began with a music and storytelling performance by Tariq Mahdi in the lower-level alcove and concluded with the festivities in the lobby. Check out the video below to see all the fun had during this program.

All performances and festivities for the Grand Finale were in the lobby on July 29. Jerry G. White opened the show with his performance of music, dance, and dinosaurs. For those who are not aware, Jerry G. White is a musician, performer, and one-man-band. He brought his percussion instruments, costume changes, backing tracks, and a number of story props to engage the audience. Attendees of all ages were invited to the stage to participate in the storytelling and lead short dance breaks; and audience members were given handheld instruments and story props and asked to participate from their seats. We all had a blast during Jerry G. White's performance.

After a snack break, we returned to the lobby for the second event. It's no surprise that everyone had lots of questions about the large inflated race track there, but our kids from the RoboKong program knew exactly what it was for! RoboKong was one of the S.T.E.A.M. programs offered at the Best Buy Teen Tech Center where participants designed and built electric remote-controlled (RC) cars for 7 weeks. Everyone surrounded the track as the RoboKong participants put the controller to the metal for a chance at first place in a 3-round race. Kid Kong prepared special certificates all RoboKong participants related to the race, car design, teamwork, and attendance throughout the program. Read more about this program here: https://www.fulcolibrary.org/blogs/post/robokong-rc-race-at-central-library/, opens a new window.

As the afternoon sun rose to its peak, the Central Library gave away prizes and freebies for everyone at the Summer Reading Finale. There were grand prizes for participants with perfect attendance at our programs, completing the Unearth a Story Beanstack Challenge, and more. Participants entered a raffle at the door for a chance to win back-to-school prizes, restaurant food or drink tickets, and library swag. We believe that was the perfect ending to our Summer Reading Program.

Blog post by Nechelle Roberts, Library Associate

For more information about the programs mentioned above or other youth programs at the Central Library, visit fulcolibrary.org/central-library/, opens a new window or call 404-612-8700.