Diane Adams

We just received and processed a really cool batch of juvenile fiction titles. I want to read all of these books but am deep into some heavy reading at the moment so will put these on the shelf and let others read them first. Manatee Summer by Evan Griffith is for animal lovers everywhere. Peter and his best friend Tommy want to finish their Discovery Journal the last summer before they head to middle school. It is a record of all the amazing animal species they have found around their Florida home and they both really want to find a manatee.

One week of summer reading programming left. Don’t miss out on career exploration on Tuesday, Libratory on Wednesday, storytime on Thursday and Big Play on Friday. Next week will be their last week for the summer. We will continue to hand out books for finishing four reading activities through the end of the month. So even if you haven’t read much this summer, there is still time to grab a book and take a look at our summer reading categories and read for free books!

The end of July is rapidly approaching. I need to spend more time outside before the outside hurts my face. Here are a handful of books that I hope will help me go outside. Return to Nature: The new science of how natural landscapes restore us by Emma Loewe, blends new research with ancient knowledge about the healing properties of landscape, making a powerful case for going outside for our health and the planet’s. A very similar goal aimed at parent’s is Finding Ecohappiness: Fun nature activities to help your kids feel happier and calmer by Sandi Schwartz. The first book is aimed at helping adults get back outside and includes activities that can be done in 5 minutes, an hour and then longer. The second book focuses on activities that can be done with children or by children. Many activities in both books could be done by both adults and children. The point is to get outside and appreciate the physical environment in which we live.

My reading the last month or so has been much more of the escapist variety. I needed to feel good and not have to think about anything in real life for a bit. Here are some of the titles I read recently. Titles written for youth do tend to be more optimistic and hopeful, so when I need some hope in my reading I will often turn to youth fiction. I selected The Patron Thief of Bread by Lindsay Eagar because of the title. I love that title. The book was a lot of fun. It was set in an imaginary medieval world with a young girl becoming a baker’s apprentice with gargoyles and street urchins and so much more.

Whew! It is already the middle of July. Not quite sure how the days are speeding by so quickly, but I try and encourage everyone else to try as well to spend a few minutes each day just appreciating where I (you) am and notice something beautiful. Then I pick up a book and read to slow down and recognize that humans can’t be on the run all the time.

I love new books. It is one of the best parts of my job. I love seeing the ingenuity and imagination of authors and illustrators. Today, I will be share some of my favorite new picture books. I love sharing these with children, but also with teens and adults. We are never too old or too young to enjoy a beautiful or funny or heart-wrenching story.

Happy Canada Day! And an early happy Independence Day greeting! Enjoy the chance to gather and celebrate whether with friends or family or both. The library will be closed, Saturday, July 2, Sunday, July 3 and then Monday, July 4. Summer hours are Monday – Wednesday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., and Thursday – Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Stock up today if you need books or movies to get your through the long weekend. We’ll be back here on Tuesday, July 5.

Summer is marching right along with very rapid speed with less than a week to go in June. Be sure and stop by the library and pick up a summer reading booklet for yourself and any family members that don’t have one yet. Summer reading will continue until Friday, August 12th with lots of free books to give away, fun programs for kids and families and an escape room for teens and adults. Get your books out and start reading!

The year just keeps chugging along. Here we are past the middle of June. I have done some reading this year, but I think I’ve added more titles to my “to read” list than my ‘read’ list. But that is what tends to happen every year. I would love for magic to exist and to be able to create an extra two-hour block of the day that no one knew existed and I could just read.

Summer reading is here! Hope you caught our first week of programming with plenty more to come. The best part of all is that kids can earn up to eight free books this summer thanks to an unexpected donation from United Way.