Celebrate summer!

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, June 2021; written by Ann Marie Meiresonne.

Celebrate! Summer is a time to celebrate. Not only the salmon and berries, the longer days, the time with family, the beach, the lake, time to fish, to gather, to explore, and of course to read.

In the children’s library we celebrate summer with kids as this is a time to pick up whatever they want to read whether comic books, aka graphic novels, animal facts, World War history, Percy Jackson for the 4th time, or Garfield for the 50th. The just turned thirteen year old adventuring into the Teen room to begin a new exploration of all the offerings on those shelves. A child who became a reader the past school year and discovers all their favorite titles from school plus more on the library shelves. The preschooler who wants only fire truck books or books about helicopters. The aspiring chef who discovers the children’s collection has multiple shelves of kid’s cookbooks. The tween who had no idea Fablehaven by Brandon Mull or Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan even existed, then spend the entire summer reading the whole series, loving every single minute. The family who discovers audio books and how much joy they have in sharing a story. The caregiver and child who have found just the right materials to get them through the challenge called reading. We celebrate with every one of them.

We celebrate with the new Coast Guard family as they find similar titles from their last library on the shelves, which brings comfort to the move and their excitement as they discover great new titles. We celebrate getting to learn their names and tastes in books, knowing that in a few years we will have to celebrate their new orders as they move away.

We celebrate the joy of offering great summer activity logs for pre-readers, beginner readers, readers and teens after the 2020 year of Covid. As well as offering Maker Bags to take, and offering prizes for those who want to participate.

We celebrate the local families who have come every summer to join in on our summer programs. We have watched these kids from babies, to preschoolers, to readers choosing their own titles to getting all their reading material in the teen room.

We celebrate those who just found out about Summer with Your Library and shyly say yes to joining in. Each child learning to engage in a conversation with the librarian sitting at the desk while becoming more and more talkative each visit.

We celebrate with those families who discover the Children’s Community Garden and want to help water, weed, maintain and harvest. Learning about plants, how they grow and watching the deer come and harvest some for themselves.

We celebrate Storytime in City Park when the weather is right.

We celebrate locals bringing visiting family members in to show off the library, especially making time to see the Children’s Literature Tree. Asking the history, enjoying the view and thankful for the respite in a beautiful facility.

Taking time to celebrate in big and little ways is a joy for all of our community. Celebrating we are getting back to some normalcy.

We invite you to come celebrate, as the library is open Sunday 1 to 5pm, Monday thru. Saturday 10am to 6pm. Closed on the 4th of July to celebrate Independence Day.