Summer Reading at New York Libraries is an annual program that brings children and families into public libraries for reading and activities. Throughout Clinton Essex and Franklin counties, a total of 1,041 children registered within our member libraries for Summer Reading 2022. The total number of minutes read by participants was 157,591 and those who recorded by book read a total of 5,396 overall. Libraries offered many grab-and-go craft activities with a total participation of 1,672. The grand total of all programs that included parents and caregivers saw 1,761 participants.

In preparation for this year’s Summer Reading, we hosted two full day workshops with several presentations and hands-on craft activities focusing on the All Together Now reading theme of kindness and community togetherness.

Some of the hands-on activities included making seed bombs with native wildflower seeds, creating heart shaped birdfeeders, and a fine motor pollination transfer activity done by building honeycombs, and demonstrating how bees pollinate with the use of craft pom-poms and homemade tongs.

We also partnered with organizations such as Cornell Cooperative Extension of Franklin County, and a master gardener in Clinton County to present on how to “bee” kind to pollinators. Both presentations were engaging, informative, and taught about beekeeping and native bee identification.

Pictured: Master Gardener, Betsy Brooks discussing native bees, Kim Trombly from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Franklin County talking about pollinators and beekeeping, and Chelsie Russo and Karlee Martin from Wead Library in Malone presenting on their personal care pantry.

Additionally, we also hired an outside presenter for attendees to learn the benefits of using signs with babies and toddlers, as well as ways to incorporate signs into their program and educate parents. Kathy MacMillan (she/her) from Stories by Hand, is a writer, nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, and signing storyteller. Kathy has worked in school and public libraries for over 25 years. Since founding Stories by Hand, Kathy has presented American Sign Language programs for thousands of children and parents in public libraries throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

Our member libraries are planning some amazing things this year, and you and your children are invited to join your library’s Summer Reading program and attend the fun events they are planning for children of all ages.

The public libraries care about your children and have planned programs to keep them reading and learning all summer. Whether you keep track of the amount of time your children spend reading or the number of books they have read this summer, children who join the Summer Reading program keep their minds active and enter school in the fall ready to learn and ready to succeed.

And remember, you are your child’s first teacher. Look at picture books with your younger children and point out people, animals, and objects in the pictures. Read to your children and ask them to read to you. Your librarian will be happy to help you find books that are just right. We hope that you and your family enjoy looking at books and reading. Together, you can discover the treasures of your library.

Summer Reading at New York Libraries – New York’s site that contains a ton of summer reading-related materials including reading lists for various age groups.