Youth Art Month Contest

Oceans of Possibilities Youth Art Contest Winners

In March we asked children to create original artwork using the theme of our summer reading games––Oceans of Possibilities! As usual, you did not disappoint, submitting over 70 pieces of artwork to the contest!

Our staff members were pleased to receive so many creative and imaginative entries.

“It certainly made the decision tough––we ended up choosing six winners!” said Ginny Hosler, a librarian, and the contest’s programmer.

Tales and Tails of Summer Reading

Tails and Tales Community Reading Goal 1 Million Minutes

This summer we challenged you to read one-million minutes during Tails and Tales, our animal-themed summer reading games. Even better, the Friends of the Library Foundation pledged to donate $1,000 to the Monroe County Humane Association if that goal was achieved! Not only did you smash the goal in early July, but you kept on reading for a total of 1,894,485 minutes!

One Million Minutes!

A Summer Reading Progress bar showing 1,000,000 minutes.

1,102,067! That’s how many minutes you read as part of the Library’s 2020 Summer Reading Games, which went digital this year. 1,574 participants (815 kids, 178 teens, and 581 adults) completed challenges, reviewed books, and logged their minutes read.

The Summer Reading Games couldn’t happen without the support of the Friends of the Monroe County Public Library! Not only did the Friends sponsor the annual summer reading program, they pledged to donate $2,000 to Hoosier Hills Food Bank if the Library’s community-wide reading goal of 200,000 minutes was met. 

New Summer Reading Goal: 1 Million Minutes

Staff Filling Little Free Library Box with Books

You did it! The community-wide reading goal of 200,000 minutes was met on Saturday, June 13, just 13 days into the summer reading games! Congrats to Hoosier Hills Food Bank, who will receive a $2,000 check from the Friends of the Library.

Since then, you’ve far surpassed this goal and have made it all the way to 539,745 minutes, as of Monday morning, June 29! In fact, the Library now has a new goal for summer reading––1 million minutes! 

Dream Big: Read!

Dream Big Read - verticalOur Summer Reading Program has taken off like a rocket! Our theme this year is Dream Big: Read! -- a fun theme with many interpretations. Sometimes, you might want to read simply to escape into a dream world for a while. And, of course, your librarians will tell you that the ability to read gives you the ability to achieve your dreams, for learning to read enables you to read to learn. We are unabashed advocates of the notion that knowledge is power. Learning about something, learning how to do something can inspire and empower you to act, to do, to become!