Caldwell County Public Library recently concluded a highly successful summer reading program. All three age groups — children, teens, and adults — surpassed reading numbers from 2021.
In the Children’s program, 904 children registered, completing 584,215 reading minutes. Their reading allowed them to earn book bucks to “buy” many prizes, as well as receive 1,495 books.
“We had amazing participation this summer. I once had 21 kids and parents at our story time. It has been so great,” said Branch Librarian Erica Kanagy. “We've had several kids come in every week to get their book bucks. They wanted to just keep collecting book bucks as often as they could. It was really sweet to see.”
The teen summer reading program saw the highest participation rate in five years and increased 48% over 2021. Eighty-nine teens returned completed bookmarks for free books. Each bookmark required the teen to read seven books and track the number of hours read. In total 623 books were read with 2,750 hours spent reading.
Two teens programs —Robot Academy and Dungeons and Dragons —were especially popular this year. “The Dungeons and Dragons events proved to be so popular that we will continue to offer it with our fall programming schedule,” explained Adult and Teen Librarian, Janet Fore.
Adults participated in Bookopoly. Similar to Monopoly, readers had to read three books in each category to achieve one Bookopoly. Fifty-two Bookopoly “boards” were returned with a total of 261 Bookopolies completed.
New Library Vehicle
Thanks to the support of the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners, the library recently received a new van for community outreach, book runs, and more.
Leslie Griffin, Director
“We are thrilled with the opportunities presented by this new vehicle and are now in the planning stages to offer service to more of our community. Tentative plans include regular service to nursing and retirement facilities, going to areas of the County with no close library service, and having a presence at festivals and other outreach events, among serving other community information and access needs,” said Caldwell County Public Library Director Leslie Griffin.
Because this van gives library staff more opportunities for outreach, staff wants the community’s help naming the van. The winning entrant will be awarded an ice cream gift card and the satisfaction of submitting the winning name. A drawing will determine the winner in case of a tie.
To enter, stop by any branch of the library with suggestions for the van name or visit www.ccpl.us and complete the Google form. Entries should be received by August 31, 2022.
caption: Library Director Leslie Griffin poses with the library’s new van.
Article from Caldwell County Government