Summer, and the library is all ready

As the weather gets warmer and summer is on the horizon, we are gearing up for our 2024 Summer Reading program at the Cloquet Public Library. Summer is the busiest time of year for us, and we've actually been preparing since December. The summer reading program runs Monday, June 3 through Aug. 16. We're so excited to share all we've been working on with you.

We have reading challenges for kids, teens, and adults and have tons of amazing events planned.

Our theme this year is "Read, Renew, Repeat," a phrase that encourages us to think about conservation, the idea of protecting animals and restoring their habitats. We share this theme with many other libraries around the country, and are excited to provide lots of opportunities at our library for that theme to shine. This year we will be centering on animals and their habitats in lots of our programming, including learning about wolves with Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College environmental scientists, peregrine falcons with researcher Jackie Fallon, and much more.

For the reading challenge, children keep track of the number of minutes they read and win prizes such as a free book, gift cards for local businesses, and a squishmallow. That program is for kids through age 12, and reading to your child absolutely counts if they aren't able to read themselves yet.

There are fun summer activities for teens, with chances to win gift cards.

Adults will be able to complete reading-related bingo cards to win gift cards..

Along with the reading challenges, one of the biggest draws to the library in the summer is our calendar of events, including a visit from the Duluth Huskies baseball team July 8 and Fire Truck Storytime, when a Cloquet Area firefighter will be reading a book and giving us a tour of a fire truck.

Other events include storytimes and a visit from the Lake Superior Zoomobile.

For teens, NASA Space Camp will be tons of fun.

Adults will be able to express their crafty sides, beginning

June 3.

All these events are free and open to the public. You can view our full events calendar and find more details on our website or Facebook page, or pick up a copy at the library.

Morgan Reardon is the children's librarian at the Cloquet Public Library. Contact her at 218-879-1531.