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Saline Library celebrated the finale of the summer reading program this week, wrapping up the theme “All Together Now” with an evening of ice cream, musical performances, and attractions.
“We are excited to report that we have had a total of 1814 participants in SDL’s Summer Reading this year, with 883 kids, 165 teens, and 766 adults,” said Karrie Waarala, Library Director. “That’s our highest number in seven years. We saw quite a dip during 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and we’re glad that everyone is back.”
Families began arriving at the event on Tuesday afternoon, enjoying ice cream provided by Saline Lions while playing yard games on the lawn. Children were able to see and touch animals at the visiting petting zoo, while the Saline Fiddlers treated those in attendance with a musical performance.
Children received library tote bags with prizes. During the summer, random drawings happened weekly for children, teens, and adults, with prizes that included gift cards, books, and a grand prize drawing of a 21 inch Decathalon Rockrider mountain bike.
Jenel Mantay was in attendance with children Chase and Alexandra. Chase said he enjoyed reading books from the Geronimo Stilton series, while Alexandra liked reading the Mermaid Tales.
Mantay also participated in the adult summer reading program, winning a gift card to Christina’s Ice Cream for her efforts.
Jillian Hayes brought her daughter Vivian to the event to enjoy ice cream and play outside. Both Hayes and her daughter participated this summer.
“I completed five books myself, and I think we were at about 500 points,” Hayes said. Vivian reported that her favorite book this summer was Llama Llama Zippity Zoom.
Katie Smith attended the event with her three children, ages 6, 4 and 2. She recorded their total reading times throughout the summer, along with her own book total.
“My oldest got 1300 minutes, and with the little one, I stopped counting at 750 minutes. I read thirteen books and counting” she said.
Smith said the children were happy to receive their totes with toys.
“The best thing in the bag was the whoopie cushion. They played with it for over an hour,” she said.
“Summer reading is a great opportunity for kids to avoid the ‘summer slide’ and be more prepared for their next school year in the fall,” Waarala said. “Plus, it’s just fun. We’ve had all sorts of great events for all ages all summer.”
Waarala said that participants can still log their summer reading totals until August 12 to qualify for prizes by visiting salinelibrary.readsquared.com.
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