Garage Sale season is here, and the Solon Area Garage Sales are Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7. The Friends of the Library host the annual sales with all funds raised benefiting the Solon Public Library programs, like summer reading! The Friends will have the garage sale list and map available on Thursday, June 5. You may pick up a paper copy at the Library or download a copy from our website. The Friends will also host their sale on Friday & Saturday, 8:00 a.m.-Noon in the Library’s community meeting room. Thank you for supporting the Friends of the Library!
Library Programs
Register for Murder Mystery Night, before spots fill up and join us Saturday, June 7, at 4:30 p.m. Registered adults will put on their sleuthing hats to solve the mystery of the night.
Teens will learn Landscape Painting as they paint their own masterpiece under the guidance of artist, Austina Scott Tuesday, June 10 at 12:30 p.m. Teens entering 6th–12th grade can explore their creative side. Registration required.
Center yourself in some relaxation time with bath bombs and candles – make them at DIY Night Tuesday, June 10, at 6:30 p.m. and take them home for yourself or a gift for a friend. Registration is required for this adult and young adult program.
Everyone’s favorite crime fighting Dog is the star of this Escape Room! Grab a team (3–6 players) and solve the mystery alongside Dog Man! Wednesday, June 12, with timeslots starting at 1:00 p.m. For kids entering 1st–8th grade. Registration required.
Don’t let the summer slide kick-in, take advantage of the summer reading program’s tracking slips and small prizes to encourage the readers in your life throughout June and July! There’s a reading program for all-ages, from birth to adults. As an extra incentive – schedule a time to Read With Willa the Dog! Kids entering 1st-8th grade are invited to register for a 15-minute slot to curl up with Willa, the French Bulldog, for a comforting reading session. Willa is a trained therapy dog and visits the Library with her human, Angela, for regular visits. This summer we have a variety of days and times available, visit our website calendar to sign up for a time that works best for you.
Learn how to use the Libby app for eBooks and audiobooks on your favorite device with hands on help at Tech Talk Thursday, June 19 at 9:30 a.m. Librarians will be ready to explain this great service, help you get started, and share tips along the way. Bring your favorite device or use a Chromebook.
We’re ready to meet some animal friends and hear their stories at Tales & Tails with the National Mississippi River Museum Friday, June 20. This special all-ages program offers two sessions: 11:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. Registration required.
Beat the heat with The Complete Summer Cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen – check out a copy, prepare some new recipes, and join us at Cookbook Club Saturday, June 21, at 11:00 a.m. to try the dishes, and chat!
These are just a few of the fun things we have coming up this summer so take a look at the calendar and join us for some library fun!
Program registration can be completed on our website calendar by clicking on the specific event and completing the form. You may also call or visit the Library for assistance with registration.
Registration for June programs opened May 20, while registration for July programs will open Friday, June 20.
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. Please always refer to our website calendar or call to check hours as weather may impact our ability to be safely open.
Special Hours Friday, June 27, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome at the Library and our programs. Please contact us with access needs.
What We’re Reading
This month the Solon Book Club is reading The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Check out a copy at the Library and join the discussion. New members are always welcome!
“In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new housing development, the last thing they expected to uncover was a human skeleton. Who the skeleton was and how it got buried there were just two of the long-held secrets that had been kept for decades by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side, sharing ambitions and sorrows.
Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which served the neighborhood’s quirky collection of blacks and European immigrants, helped by her husband, Moshe, a Romanian-born theater owner who integrated the town’s first dance hall. When the state came looking for a deaf black child, claiming that the boy needed to be institutionalized, Chicken Hill’s residents— roused by Chona’s kindness and the courage of a local black worker named Nate Timblin—banded together to keep the boy safe.
As the novel unfolds, it becomes clear how much the people of Chicken Hill have to struggle to survive at the margins of white Christian America and how damaging bigotry, hypocrisy, and deceit can be to a community. When the truth is revealed about the skeleton, the boy, and the part the town’s establishment played in both, McBride shows that it is love and community—heaven and earth—that ultimately sustain us.” -Goodreads.com