As the summer nears, the Hopkinsville-Christian County Public Library is preparing to kick-off their Summer Reading Program and are working to reach out to communities in the county.
Mari-Alice Jasper from the library appeared on WHOP on Tuesday and shared that their Summer Reading Program is set to kick-off on June 1 with a party at the library from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The kick-off event will feature outdoor games, music and free food to get the community excited for summer reading.
At the launch event, Jasper says they will also be giving out reading logs and share how the reading program works. This year’s program theme is, “Adventure Begins.” Jasper says theme serves to push readers to explore books in genres that they may not typically read or find books that are about adventure, nature and exploration.
Despite the theme, Jasper says readers participating in the program can read whatever books they would like to. The program is also open to readers of all ages and adults who participate will also be eligible for prizes.
Last year, Jasper says their adult prizes included a drone, a massage gun and a handbag from 6th Street Boutique. Participants are divided into four categories for ages 0 to 4, ages 5 to 15, ages 13 to 17 and ages 18 and older.
Readers in the program will track their reading hours and after they achieve their first five hours, they will receive a prize bag and a raffle ticket. For every five hours logged, readers will earn another raffle ticket increasing their odds of walking away with a prize.
The Summer Reading Program runs from June 1 to July 13 where the program will conclude with a foam party outside of the library from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
A new summer time event the library has brought to the community is Popsicles in the Park. Jasper says the program brings a mobile story time to communities in Christian County to reach out to communities that may be far from the library because transportation can be an obstacle.
At the event, Jasper says she reads a couple of stories to children and then gives out free books and popsicles, however supplies are limited. Jasper says the next Popsicle in the Park events are set for June 6 in Lafayette and June 22 in Oak Grove.
Coming up on Saturday at 10 a.m. the library will be hosting an author signing event featuring sportswriter Jamie Vaught. Vaught will share and sign copies of his book, “Forever Crazy About the Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.”
More information about the library’s summer itinerary can be found at Hopkinsville-Christian County Public Library on Facebook and at their website hccpl.org.