The Summer Reading Program at the Pilot Point Community Library has returned for the season with a third age breakdown and new prizes, some funded by the community.
The program, Library Director Jenna Glass explained, has grown every year encouraging over 130 kids and adults to spend some of their summer curled up with a good book thanks to the possibility of winning an enticing grand prize.
“There is a lot of reading, but we also give progress for other activities,” Glass said. “Color Our World is the summer reading theme. It’s very arts and craft focused, so we give awards for doing take-home crafts and coming to programs.”
The director challenged the Friends of the Library to engage local merchants in donating prizes.
“We asked them to help us with getting some prizes from local merchants, so we’re offering that as part of our drawings this year, too,” Glass said. “We have a Southern Junkiez gift card, some custom shirts vouchers from Notoriously Yours and others.”
Additionally, the HEB Summer at the Library grant through the Texas Library Association awarded the library with $2,000, which have also gone into making the grand prizes as enticing as possible.
“The July ones are still a surprise, but the ones I’m excited about for kids are the Legos, a 3d printer and a 140-piece painting set,” Glass said. “You can just show up and say, ‘Give me a reading log,’ and can return them starting on the 10th, and we’ll be accepting them through the end of July.”
The limit is one completed reading log per day per person.
“It seems like a lot for adults, but some of these kids will find their 12 picture books for the day and read them all in the library,” Glass said.
There will be two drawings, the first in June and the second in July.
“The prizes in July will be totally different,” Glass said. “We’ll do the drawings in June, empty the buckets and start over in July.”
In addition to summer reading, the library will host a plethora of events throughout the summer.
“We have multiple events going on for everyone from kids to teens to adults, everything from crafts to gardening topics and storytimes,” Glass said. “People can find information on them in person, on our Facebook or on our website—it’s listed in multiple places.”
She shouted out Wacky Wednesdays as a particularly enticing event for all ages.
“Those get our biggest attendance numbers,” Glass said. “They’re for all ages, and you don’t have to register for them. You can just show up. There is a different performer or group or show every week, and we hold those in the community center next door for space reasons. Then July 30, the last Wednesday of the summer, we’re wrapping things up with an end of summer ice cream party.”
