Are you signed up for a summer reading program with your library? We sure are- and we are LOVING it!
We moved in February of 2020 to our new house, and with that move came a new library system. I only had enough time to get a library card and was on library card probation and only allowed to check out 10 books at the time of the shutdown! Can you imagine? The Hines only having 10 books checked out of the library at one time?!?!? It was really a challenge for our book-loving family. Because of that, I kept my relationship with my previous county library and double dipped a little bit. Last summer, neither library had summer reading programs (or perhaps they had an online option and I was too overwhelmed to even attempt it ha). Anyways, this summer I am finally all in with my newly beloved Dayton Metro Library (but huge shoutout to Greene County Libraries- you are also great!) and we are having so much fun exploring all the different things that the library has to offer this summer!
The summer reading program this summer is called Tails and Tales and it was very quick and easy to sign up at this link.
Our brand librarian also handed us one of these fun game map trackers to keep track of points visually on paper.
Fun fact: we moved into our house 10 days ago, and this is the first thing that I have hung on the wall. As you can see, the dolls have not been unpacked or arranged. Also, my bookshelf with library books was the first box I unpacked. #Priorities
I love how the kids can earn points through reading (colored in red), attending programs (library, school, park, etc) (colored in yellow) AND doing helpful service projects (colored in blue).
Every month at the library, the provide a free make and take box with an age appropriate activity that fits the theme of that month. We have done some wild flower planting, a boat building science activity, and this month was rock painting for Tera and making an owl mask for Kiah.
Every Thursday, we try to attend an afternoon library program at our closest branch (Wilmington Stroop). We never know what we are going to get, but it’s also a fun surprise to show up at a Pop-Up Program! Miss Melissa is SO active and engaged, and the kids absolutely adore her (not going to lie, so do I!).
One week we attended a yoga class and this past week our class was all about sharks. The pop-up program is outside, and unfortunately, there is not a lot of shade, but we honestly didn’t mind too much! It is summertime after all!
We even got to play some drums during our last class!
Of course, after our program, we head back inside to play inside the library and fill our book crate with books, check them out, and take them home! The rest of the afternoon is always so quite around my house as they flip through all the books that we have picked.
We LOVE our summer reading programs and want to remind you that it’s not too late to sign up! Even if you don’t live in the Dayton Metro area, I would strongly encourage you to check out your local library and the programs that they are offering.
We are also having fun doing a little reading challenge from our CHESS librarian (it fits really well into our DML challenge as it gives more specific genres of books to check out). Another one of my goals this summer is to visit several other branches of the Dayton Metro Library. Maybe I’ll write up a blog post with some of our favorite features of each one. Stay tuned!
Just a reminder: even if you don’t want to sign up for a summer reading program, there are a lot of other fun events to sign up for! Registration fills up fairly quickly for many of these programs, but I have my kids signed up for slime making class, art class, pop-up programs- basically anything that can be thought of is being offered through our local library system! Check out this list for all events, at all branches, for all ages. You can filter the search to narrow it down to your preferred locations, age group or interest level.
Are you doing a summer reading program? I would love to hear all about it!