by Barbara Buckley
Summer activities are winding down at the six Adams County Libraries. I’ve taken a moment to reflect on the past 11 weeks. Along with libraries across the country, we participate in the Collaborative Summer Library Program’s theme every summer. This year, the theme was “Color Our World,” which provided inspiration and a connecting thread through many of our programs.
For instance, the New Oxford Library recently held a Rainbow Party for children to wrap up SummerQuest, our annual summer reading challenge. Kids created rainbow bead bracelets, played with rainbow rice, painted paper fans, decorated rainbows with multicolored pom-poms, and ate rainbow crackers, rainbow popcorn, and fruit from a rainbow platter. At the Harbaugh-Thomas Library, there was an Ice Cream Sundae party with multi-colored toppings on top of clouds of vanilla ice cream.
With rainbows dancing through my head, it seemed fitting to arrange thoughts about this summer using the mnemonic device that I learned as a child for the sequence of colors in the visible spectrum of the rainbow, ROYGBIV.
R: As a library system, SummerQuest participants “read” and logged over 900,000 minutes. Way to go!
O: For the families that came to library events across the county, “orange” you glad you came? Between the New Oxford Library and the Harbaugh-Thomas Library alone, over 2,000 people attended 175 programs this summer.
Y: Children learned there was no reason to “yell ‘oh!’” when Reptile Invasion brought multicolored snakes and lizards to libraries across the county, allowing brave souls to hold the creatures. Similarly, Ryan the BugMan brought a live tarantula and scorpion, demonstrating how a scorpion glows blue under an ultraviolet light. With both programs, calm instructions and educational comments took the fear out of the unknown. It was an example of the ACLS purpose statement in action: “Connecting people to opportunities that enrich their lives.”
G: If you were a little “green” and inexperienced with paper sculptures, mystery bag art, and faux stained glass, we’re glad our programs gave you new experiences!
B: Many staff members are “blue” that the summer fun is over, but excited for the somewhat calmer fall season.
I: Thank goodness “indigo” is no longer recognized as a necessary inclusion in the color sequence of rainbows. So, in a science-backed move, I am skipping indigo, a word for which I had no ready pun to relate to the world of libraries!
V: “Violet” is like the color in an Adams County sunset. Similarly, the sun is setting on our summer ventures. Final reading prizes are being distributed. Children are going back to school. Families are returning loads of books as they get organized for the new school year, keeping library staff and volunteers busy shelving. Families with very young children are checking with staff to see that our weekly storytimes will continue throughout the year (yes, they will!). Most activities for older children switch to after school times. Adult activities carry on. We’re ready for a new season.
Barbara Buckley is Branch Manager at the New Oxford and Harbaugh-Thomas Libraries.