The thing about hosting a big, community-wide event like the Children’s Festival of Reading is that when it’s over, it’s usually over. You spend a year planning it, working with artists, vendors, community groups and volunteers. If you’re lucky, the day is a great success. Then you pack everything up, do the wrap up and move on to the next thing.
But this event, the biggest one that the Knox County Public Library puts on every year, was just the beginning! By all accounts, the festival, held last Saturday on World’s Fair Park, was a resounding success. Happy faces everywhere. Rapt audiences listening to brilliant authors. Hundreds of books signed. And nary a child lost, or a band aid dispensed. It was a great day! We couldn’t be more pleased to see over 11,000 kids and families enjoying the day.
The point, however, is to kick off the Summer Library Adventure: Quest for Knowledge. This epic adventure is recruiting all noble folk in the Kingdom of Knox to defeat the Enemies of Knowledge by completing literary activities (and earning prizes)! Of course there’s reading involved, but there are also programs and crafts that will help in the quest. All you need do to get started is drop by any library location to pick up a game card. Or you can download the Beanstack app and track online.
To keep pace, we have hundreds of events at all library locations over the summer. There’s some magic, music and muses. All programs are listed in the online calendar, or you can download a newsletter to have at your fingertips.
Summers at the library have never been more fun and inspiring. Never mind all the good it’s doing to prevent the summer slide!
Mary Pom Claiborne is assistant director for marketing, communications and development for Knox County Public Library