Where has the summer gone??

Hello all! I have been away from the blog for far too long, but Summer Reading was consuming all free time and then some! We had a fantastic summer this year, with over 400 kids registered and involved with the program and various activities. The library had it's first family bingo, which was wildly successful, and I'm planning another for Halloween. It was really cool to see families meeting up with each other and hanging out for an evening of fun. All of our elementary programs were a blast from our Spongebob Party to our Life-Sized Candyland, the kids were ecstatic, as was I! One of my favorite programs this summer was, surprisingly enough, one that took little effort on my part. We had a Water Art day, in which the kids were free to use their imagination and use different art tools from water colors to tempera paints and sand. I can honestly tell you that it was the most quiet our library had been all summer long. The kids were absolutely enthralled with what they were doing, and it was super fantastic to see what they came up with. We strung the finished products up on clothesline in the craft room for all to see. Our End of Summer Reading Party was a blast. We had Magic Man TJ Hill perform, the kids picked their free books, and we pulled the winners for all of the different raffle prizes. We had over 1oo people come out and celebrate, and I'm so thankful for all of the support!

So, with the end of Summer Reading, now comes a bit of a rest for me here at the library, but I'm busy planning all of our Fall activites. We are going to continue with some new programs and bring back some old favorites. Little Listeners, Book Buddies and Stories and Songs will all pick up again beginning the week of September 13th. We will be adding the Kid Aerobics for the fall, as well as a Family Storytime in the evenings. I'd like to have Bingo each month at the library, and we are also offering the wildly popular Abrakadoodle classes again. You can check the website for details. I'm most excited for Halloween this year, my absolute favorite. This year, our teen librarian, Heather Panella and I are putting together a Haunted Library. We plan on going all out for this one, so be sure and keep October 30th free in your date books! Also, on September 18th we will be having Mark Hayward, a top-knotch yo-yo expert come to the library for a fun-filled family program.

In the meantime, this month we're having a Movie Night with Diary of a Wimpy Kid, our 3rd Annual Stuffed Animal Sleepover, Get Ready for Kindergarten program and Science in the Summer.

As you can see, busy, busy!! And be sure to stop in and say hello...it's awfully quiet around here without Story Time!