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Editorial Note: This article originally appeared in The Weekly Choice on July 3, 2003.
I remember back in the days when I was a kid, I just couldn’t wait for summer to arrive, although chances are not for the same reasons that everybody else had. Don’t get me wrong, three months off from school and weather that you didn’t need to dress in layers for to enjoy and all of the late nights playing games with the rest of the neighborhood kids were great and I looked forward to them all every year, but even more so, it was the summer reading program at our local library that truly made June, July & August the most anticipated on my calendar…
We probably went to the library at least three times a week, if not every single day during the rainy periods, and how I ever went through that many books and still managed to spend the entire day outside, I’ll never know! (…if only I still had those kinds of time management skills…) I believe at the time, the main goal of the program was to meet a certain goal set between yourself, your parents, and the librarians, but it was pretty safe to say that with an everlasting selection of science fiction and mystery novels at my disposal, it sure didn’t take long to meet and surpass that goal even twice over! Years and years went by, priorities changed, and “free time” was more and more difficult to come across, but reading has always played an important role in my life and I have the summer reading programs provided by our local library to thank for sparking that fire!
Now over a decade later, even though some of the names have changed – Tom Swift and His Deep-Sea Hydrodome has been replaced by Harry Potter and the gang from Hogwarts (and who knew anyone would need that many books about chicken soup?!), I am happy to say that there are a few things that will always stay the same and summers at the library certainly seem to fall into that category! Once again summer reading programs are running strong throughout Northern Michigan this year and with over a dozen libraries in the neighborhood covering just about every place on the map, getting your children in on the action has never been easier. Just one warning, though – with the schedules that I’ve seen so far this summer, you may soon find yourself making three or more visits a week, too…
And what a lineup they have planned for you this summer! Whether it’s magic, puppetry, ventriloquism, or even live and exotic animals, chances are there’s at least one library within driving distance that has just the program to spark an entirely new interest for any child. This year’s chosen theme for libraries across the nation is “Laugh It Up at Your Library,” so naturally they have a whole slew of fun events geared towards fun and laughter and so forth. Cheboygan Public Library has a full slate of guest speakers appearing in July, from a children’s magician to several puppetry and comedic theater shows, as well as a variety of reading programs for all ages. Mackinaw Area Public Library has a similar lineup that also features weekly presentations by local librarians and storytellers, and even a hands-on exotic animal display to wrap up the month! Devereaux Memorial Crawford County Library in Grayling will also become a veritable petting zoo for a day in July, and keeping with the animal theme is Otsego County Library in Gaylord and their Summer Safari program, consisting of several arts and crafts projects focusing on the wildlife of the jungle, as well as weekly movies, drawings, and much more!
Of course, these are just a few of the libraries in the area, so be sure to check with your own local branch for a complete summary of their summer programs. Whether your child is already an avid reader and actively looks forward to another summer at the library, or maybe they’ve never quite found a connection of their own to all that reading has to offer, these next few months provide the perfect opportunity to increase their exposure to a whole new world of possibilities limited only by their imagination. No matter how many things change in their own hectic lives as they grow up, reading is one of those things that will always play an active role, as a resource, a guide, and even as an escape from it all at the end of the day. Spark a child’s interest in reading early and it’ll be something that he or she will treasure for the rest of their lives…this columnist certainly does.
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