We enjoyed another successful year of our Summer Reading program.
The program officially started on June 11th. The main theme was "Dream Big, Read!" and featured outdoor and night-time activities. During the first week of Summer Reading, campfire kickoff programs were held at the library locations and Salt Springs State Park. MaryBeth Manns and Donna Horn led the kickoff campfires and the attendees enjoyed camp stories, sing-a-longs and s'mores!Fun events for all ages were held throughout the ten-week program. Young readers attended weekly story time and made fun crafts, the teen participants enjoyed a movie night and weekly crafting lessons. Adults enjoyed a lesson in crocheting and a spa night at the Fairdale Grange, organized by Children's Librarian, Karen Braker-Reed. Story times and events were held at each library location and were organized through the dedicated efforts of Amelia Paterno, Pam Bagnall, Deb Cavanaugh, and Lizzy Hanrahan at the Susquehanna location. At the Hallstead-Great Bend location, Angie Houghton, Val Burdick and Heather Neary organized the events, and at Forest City, Diana Junior, Mary McElhinney, Joan Skarbez led the program. The Outreach Department took the program on the road to preschools, day-care centers, and several other schools as well.
The Summer Reading program concluded on Friday, August 10th at Kopernik Observatory & Science Center in Vestal, New York. Participants learned about spectrum refraction, used computers to track activity in space, talked about meteors, used telescopes and much more!
Altogether, around 400 people registered for Summer Reading/ Participants were encouraged to log their minutes and number of books read online. Around 190,000 reading minutes and over 510 books were logged online. Adult readers who logged their hours were entered into a drawing for a Nook! Congratulations to Valerie Capotosto for winning the Nook and thanks to all who participated in the 2012 Summer Reading program. The Susquehanna County Library Summer Reading program is supported by funds from the United Way of Susquehanna County.