Dear Friends,
It feels like I just sat down excited to write to you about the kickoff of our Summer Reading Program, yet today I’m writing to let you know that the program officially ends during the last week in August. There is still time for kids and teens to complete their tracking sheets and challenge forms—September 10 is the last day to claim prizes. As things wind down, I want to take the time to share some of our summer highlights with you.
The 2021 Tails and Tales Summer Reading Program has been wildly successful! Even with the need for flexibility around curbside and shifting hours, kids and teens have been busy crafting and reading throughout the summer. We’ve signed up well over 150 participants for this year’s program, with just as many kids and teens participating in virtual programming. We’ve had virtual art, jewelry making, music, and even learned about the bats of the world.
The most successful and well-loved offering from the summer has to be our take-and-make craft kits. Kids, teens, and families have been able to swing by and pick up crafts they can do together from home. All of the kits are free and we’ve handed out close to 500! From hand kites to woven bookmarks to keychains, they’ve flown out the door.
Every child that signed up for the Summer Reading Program received a free book at sign-up—we’ve put more than 150 books in the hands of our community’s youth. When kids and teens finish the Summer Reading Program, they get another free book. Folks are already stopping by to bring home their second books and we know the end of August will bring a flurry of completed forms.
During a summer that is still asking so much of our staff and our community, it has been wonderful to see so many kids, teens, and families returning and taking part in this program. It matters to me to know they are joining youth around the country who are also participating in Tails and Tales at their own local libraries, and happy to think of all the joy libraries bring to others through programs like this.
Whether you participated by joining a virtual program or by stopping in for books once or multiple times this summer, we thank you for bringing your time and your energy to the library. We’re already curious and excited to think about what the theme for next summer may be.
We hope to see you, and the kids and teens in your life, at the library soon!
Be well,
Matthew Graff
Executive Director
Skidompha Library