As June switches over to July, the Hillsboro Library is busy prepping for its second month of Summer Reading.
“It is hard to believe that we are halfway through our summer reading program,” said children’s manager Gabrielle Pitzer. “We have been busier than ever, which makes time fly, but we still have a whole lot more fun planned before summer ends.”
On the schedule for the rest of the month includes multiple crafts, including tie-dye, rock painting and build-your-own birdhouse.
“When I was in kindergarten and first grade at Main Street Primary, we had a special tie-dye day towards the end of the year, and I remember it being so much fun, making my own shirt and then getting to wear it. I hope the kids (and adults) that come will wear their creations to another program before summer ends,” said Pitzer.
This year also marked the library’s first time hosting special Crafty Tuesdays.
“As usual, we had way more ideas than we had actual scheduled time, so adding these Crafty Tuesdays has allowed us to pack in more fun. And since our theme is camping, when we all thought of camp, we thought about all the fun crafts you do there,” Pitzer said.
July’s Crafty Tuesdays will be on July 16 and July 30, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on both days. On the 16th, patrons will be rock painting, and on the 30th, patrons are invited to make different masterpieces using and inspired by nature.
Then, on Thursday, July 18 at 4 p.m., patrons of all ages are invited to build and decorate birdhouses.
According to Pitzer, “Our first summer reading program after the pandemic was painting birdhouses and we had so many people come and enjoy it. We had planned to have it in our meeting room, but had so many people show up that we quickly spread out into the library. But it was so much fun and we can’t wait to do the program this year.”
The end of July will also include a National Parks Craft Day on Thursday, July 25 at 5:30 p.m. During this program, patrons of all ages are invited to create six different unique crafts, all inspired by America’s most iconic parks.
In addition to crafting, the library will also host a Campfire Tales Day on July 11, which includes a special story time for kids at 4 p.m. and a presentation by the Bigfoot Research Organization (BFRO) at 6 p.m. for tweens through adults. The story time for kids will have special guests from the Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District and kids will hopefully have the opportunity to learn about fire safety and see the equipment/trucks up close (providing that there are no emergency runs during that time.)
Circulation manager Sarah Davidson said, “We’ve had the BFRO here in the past and they always have amazing stories.”
The Audubon Society will be at the library on July 18, the same day as the build-your-own birdhouse craft.
“Patrons can make a birdhouse, and then head upstairs to learn birdwatching basics,” explained Davidson. The birdwatching program is aimed at tweens through adults.
The library will also host its annual Local Author Night on Wednesday, July 17, from 5-7 p.m.
“This is always such a fun event,” said Davidson. “We have so much local talent here, and we love getting the chance to highlight so many wonderful authors.”
The event will be set up like an author fair, with each author having a table set up with their books. Fifteen authors are scheduled to attend. Additionally, there will be a make your own book/journal craft down in the children’s library from 4-6 p.m.
Then, on Saturday, July 20, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., patrons of all ages are also invited to the Library’s Amazing Race.
“We have a total of eight different activities for patrons to complete,” said Davidson. “We’ll have five teams competing each hour. Whichever team completes all the activities first will win a goodie basket of international snacks. All winning teams will then be entered in a drawing for a grand prize, which will be a collection of gift cards to local restaurants.”
Teams of two to four must preregister for this event. All ages are invited to play.
“We designed the activities so they would be fun for families,” Davidson said. “But we also wanted them to have just enough challenge that adult teams could come and enjoy the race, too.”
Summer Reading will finish for the year with a special story time on Wednesday, July 31, at 11 and at 11:30 a.m. Kids and families are invited to hear the classic “Going on a Bear Hunt”. Then, in the evening, they can live the story they heard earlier that day with a real-life walk through.
“Again, when I attended Main Street Primary, one of my favorite memories is the Bear Hunt Night. The first grade classes would work on decorations for different parts of the story and then one evening, students were invited to “walk through” the book, going classroom to classroom. I wanted to do the same thing, but instead of room to room, its stack to stack,” said Pitzer.
A full schedule for the remainder of the Hillsboro Library’s Summer Reading Program is below:
– Tie-Dye: Wednesday July 3 at 5:30 p.m. (all ages)
– Campfire Tales Day: Thursday, July 11 – Campout Story Time at 4 p.m. (kids) and Bigfoot Research Organization at 6 p.m. (tweens and adults)
– Crafty Tuesday (Rock Painting): Tuesday, July 16, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (all ages)
– Local Author Night: Wednesday, July 17, 5-7 p.m. (tweens and adults)
– Birding Adventures Day: Thursday, July 18 – Build-Your-Own Birdhouse at 4 p.m. (all ages) and Birdwatching Basics with the Audubon Society at 5:30 p.m. (tweens and adults)
– Library Amazing Race: Saturday, July 20, 10 Aa.m. to 2 p.m. Pre-registration required (all ages)
– National Parks Craft Day: Thursday, July 25 at 5:30 p.m. (all ages)
– Crafty Tuesday (Nature Art): Tuesday, July 30, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
– Going on a Bear Hunt: Wednesday, July 31 – Story Time at 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., and Storybook Walk Through, 4-6 p.m.
Patrons are also invited to participate in a challenge to check out, as a community, a total of 25,000 items.
“These can be anything,” said Davidson. “Books, movies, magazines, graphic novels — anything.”
Digital items checked out through the library’s Libby and hoopla apps also count.
“If, all together, we hit our check-out goal, then the library will host a community ice cream party in August,” Davidson said. “So far we’re on track, at just over 10,000 books. Hopefully, we’ll hit that halfway point soon.”
For more information on these or other library programs, visit www.highlandco.org, call 937-393-3114, or search “Highland County District Library of Ohio” on Facebook.
Submitted by Sarah Davidson, circulation manager, Highland County District Library.
