Now that you’ve come to realize you don’t really have anything to do this summer, let us be your guide for the remainder of the season. Besides, summer has really just begun for us here at the Library – don’t believe everything the calendar tells you. Sometimes we have several small mishaps in a row and the day is not even marked Full Moon. Can’t be that accurate, now can it? That said, we’ve already launched into our main event of the season (summer reading clubs for all ages), and have plenty of other things going on to keep you busy until school starts up (which, by the way, will be before you know it - again, this is according to the calendar).
This year we’ve gone back to our Connect Four format for Teen/Adult Summer Reading. You can collect your card any time throughout the season and receive a prize for any one ‘line’ read. Squares include things like, 'a book you picked by the cover' (scandalous) or 'a classic you've been meaning to read' (possibly also scandalous). It’s not unexpected or amazing, but it is a fun challenge. And we find the older you get, the less you appreciate any element of surprise, ever. If someone even says, “Guess what?” to us now, we roll our eyes a minimum of three times. Prizes include Tim Hortons gift cards (generously supplied by Bocchinfuso Funeral Home), Niagara River Lions tickets (generously supplied by the Niagara River Lions), free bath bomb coupons (generously supplied by Da Bomb), and a “Good/great (some people are more into it than others) job/done” (generously supplied by TPL staff).
In addition to our continued participation in TD Summer Reading Club for ages 12 and younger, we have SRC programming running every Monday to Thursday at 2 p.m. All events are free and you can join at any time throughout the season. Programs include Tornado Tunnels, Bubble Snakes, Animal Tag - and other things you can actually identify, like Slime Making, Monster Bookmarks, and Water Games. This summer we also have a rotating schedule of Comic Book Club, Writing Club, and Book Club on Wednesday afternoons. These programs are intended to encourage young readers to further engage with reading by stepping into the roles of creator and critic. Participants work on their own graphic novel, a variety of writing exercises, or share the best/worst stories they completed with other avid readers.
Outside of our literacy-pushing side project, we have lots of other events to attend. On Saturdays it’s Children’s Garden Club where little ones make a small outdoor related craft for a toonie. You’ll also find us popping up in parks across the city again this year. During the month of July, we’ll spend Tuesday afternoons at Battle of Beaverdams Park and Thursdays in Port Robinson Park. Come August, we’ll switch to Allanburg Community and McAdam in Thorold South. Look out for our interactive Story Walks such as Some Bugs, Grumpy Bird, and Stella, Fairy of the Forest. No need to look out for our TPL standee as it refuses to achieve its one life purpose, even in the gentlest of breezes. In other news, $5 for a used standee. Or best offer.
If you can’t take the heat, get out of the metaphorical fire (might be a bit dramatic) and into the non-metaphorical air conditioning. Unless we hear you say, “I don’t like air-conditioning,” and then you have to stand outside indefinitely. Every other Friday we offer free Coffee, Cookies, and a Movie screening of newer releases including The Public (July 26), Breakthrough (August 9) and Poms (August 23). On July 30 we have an Insect Hotel Workshop (yep) where participants can create a safe and inviting space for little bugs to seek refuge. Adult Craft Night also continues to be popular with Faux Succulent Centerpieces and Butterfly Trees coming up this August.
As with the past few years, book clubs continue throughout the season (how was it ever a question of whether people would read throughout the summer?) with some delightfully appropriate titles (we have to acknowledge it or no one else will) including Michaelides’ thriller The Silent Patient and Davidson’s Saturday Night Ghost Club.
With the exception of Pop Ups and movie matinees, all summer events require registration. We’d love you to attend them all; we just need to know you’re coming. No one wants to set a dinner party for five and then have 20 people show up. Okay, now we’re just trying to impress you into thinking that we’d host a dinner party. Or know 20 people. Contact the Library for further details or check our website at www.thoroldpubliclibrary.ca.
