Summer reading program continues, despite library flood

Despite a troublesome start to the year, the Lonsdale Public Library’s summer-reading program is still taking off.

More than 70 children aged 0-18 had signed up for the program Friday during the kickoff cookout, according to Library Director Marguerite Moran. She said the program is always a hit with the youth, and that this year brought some unique challenges.

“You get a free reading log,” she said. “It encourages parents, grownups, to read to the littles. Because that’s an important indicator for pre-literacy. And then we do special events. We managed to do the regular number of special events this year. We’re sort of piecing it all together on the fly, which has been sort of the story of this year for us.”

Earlier this year, a sprinkler malfunction from cold weather caused a major flood at the library. While no books were destroyed in the flood, furniture and other finishings had to be removed. The library is still operating with a remote-pickup system, like during the pandemic.

But that wasn’t going to stop Moran.

“I had a list of scenarios,” she said. “’What if we have no place to hold things?’ You know, ‘What can we do outside? Where are other alternative venues?’ So it’s really nice that we have a space that’s our space that we can use, even though it’s not normal. But we’re getting there. I feel like we keep taking steps back to normalcy. And I’m so glad that we were able to do this this year because it’s big. The summer program is so important for all the things we do, the things we believe in.”

When someone signs up for the summer program, they receive a task log. Whether it’s reading a chapter or finishing a book or any of the other tasks, they get a sticker for each one they complete.

At the end of the program July 20, they get entered into a drawing for a grand-prize basket. There are several other special events throughout the monthslong program.

The Poole family, of Lonsdale, is among the summer-reading program’s participants every year. Jennifer Poole said her kids make it into a competition.

“It’s always fun,” she said of the program. “I think we’ve done it every year since the library started doing it. If there’s other things going on, we make this a priority.”

She said, when she first went to the Lonsdale Library, she was worried about its size. But she said they let you check out books from anywhere in the state, which helps fill that gap.

“It’s more than just a library,” she added. “They’re friends, you know? They really get to know the kids. They know my kids by name. We’ve been to other libraries, where the librarians are just kind of mean and you can tell they don’t really like kids. But here, you can just see it. They really enjoy what they do here.”

As of a few days ago, the official design for the library remodel was ordered. Moran said the library is done being restored, but they don’t have any furniture. So, they’re holding the indoor events in the big, empty library.

Moran said the best way to support the library is to simply keep using it.

“Right now, I think just continue to use the library and be patient with us,” she said. “And then we probably will be calling for volunteers when we actually do the move back, to make sure everything gets on the shelves correctly. That’s going to be a huge task.”