The Summer Reading Program is for everyone! We have programs for every reader, from babies to kids to teens and adults. The final deadline to turn in slips is Wednesday, July 31. Pick up a program brochure, reading logs, and calendar to plan your summer fun!
Library Events
Learn all about Bat Conservation from Johnson County Naturalists Monday, July 8 at 6:00 p.m. Participants must register to be guaranteed a spot and will build a bat house to take home and aid in conservation efforts. This program is geared toward adults, but all ages are welcome to attend.
We’re excited to host local experts Thursday, July 11 at 6:30 p.m. to learn more about Purple Martins and American Kestrels. Come learn about these two species and how you can help further the work for the benefit of these local birds. This program is geared toward adults, but all ages are welcome to attend.
As bird populations continue to decline, volunteers are scouting new real estate for purple martins in parks, schools and other public settings. Local Purple Martin Landlord, Larry Olsen, will join us to educate about attracting, caring for, and helping conserve purple martins in Solon. Larry has 15 years’ experience as a Purple Martin Landlord, and currently cares for nine housing clusters in the Solon area to help with the conservation effort of Purple Martins in Iowa.
Local birder Don Lund has more than ten years’ experience following kestrels in the wild, more than seven years monitoring kestrel houses, and currently monitors 25 kestrel houses in Johnson County.
Our summer schedule for Storytime continues in July. We’re hosting two sessions of the same Storytime to help with large crowds and to be flexible for your schedules. Join us at 9:30 or 10:30 a.m. to enjoy!
Saturday Storytime is for all-ages! Join us Saturday, July 13 at 10:30 a.m. to enjoy books, songs, and games together.
Test your knowledge with our quarterly Trivia Night Friday, July 26 at 6:30 p.m. Teams of no more than six will participate in four rounds of questions to win prizes. This trivia theme is READ. RENEW. REPEAT! to coordinate with our Summer Reading theme. Unlike any other trivia, teams will be able to use resources! Teams can stop into the library to check out up to five books of their choice to reference during game play. Bring a snack or drink to share with your team and make it a party! Play starts promptly at 6:30, so please plan to be a few minutes early to gather with your team, get your snacks, and get situated. Don’t forget to register your team, space is limited.
Library Access
Regular Library hours are Monday-Thursday 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. and Friday-Saturday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Closed Sundays.
Don’t forget, the digital library is always available! Find an eBook, eAudiobook, magazines and more with Bridges, or with the Libby app on your favorite smart device. You can even stream classic films, discover new favorites, and more with Kanopy on your favorite smart device.
Everyone is welcome at the Library and our programs. Please contact us with access needs.
What We’re Reading
As we think about our summer reading theme, read, renew, repeat, we’re thinking about books we love to read over and over. What book or series do you enjoy revisiting?
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. This heartwarming story has beckoned generations of readers into the special world of Green Gables, an old-fashioned farm outside a town called Avonlea. Anne Shirley, an eleven-year-old orphan, has arrived in this verdant corner of Prince Edward Island only to discover that the Cuthberts—elderly Matthew and his stern sister, Marilla—want to adopt a boy, not a feisty redheaded girl. But before they can send her back, Anne—who simply must have more scope for her imagination and a real home—wins them over completely. A much-loved classic that explores all the vulnerability, expectations, and dreams of a child growing up, Anne of Green Gables is also a wonderful portrait of a time, a place, a family… and, most of all, love. [Available at the Library and the Libby app]
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. For the past fifty years, The Chronicles of Narnia have transcended the fantasy genre to become part of the canon of classic literature. Each of the seven books is a masterpiece, drawing the reader into a land where magic meets reality, and the result is a fictional world whose scope has fascinated generations. [Available at the Library and the Libby app]
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry’s eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin! [Available at the Library and the Libby app]
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse – Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place where he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods, where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena – Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods. [Available at the Library and the Libby app]
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