The Summer Reading Challenge at the library comes to a close and we have to say: what a fantastic summer!

This year we had a ton of people take on the challenge to read for 40 days! And by a lot, we mean 2,972 people. That’s nearly 3,000! Clearly, a lot of folks in Saline County are ready to take on the challenge and dive into some new books.

For our Summer Reading Challenge, we had a number of events at the library for all ages:

We had lots of storytimes and were visited by the wonderful princesses Belle, Rapunzel, Cinderella and Spin-Spider from Fanciful Fairytales.

Presenters from our local Arkansas communities visited the library: The Museum of Discovery, the Little Rock Zoo, the Game & Fish Commission, and Arkansas State Parks. We got to see a snake named Monty, a tortoise, and a spider! And we learned about how tornadoes form and saw a dazzling fire tornado! (Good thing all the books were safe.)

Our friends at Pasta J’s, Texas Roadhouse, Koffee with a Kause, Moma B’s and Blue House Bakery partnered with the library to bring Cooking Club to you. We made wonderful memories and delicious meals, from handcrafted drinks, Cesear salads, home cooked pasta & broccoli, and more.

This year we also hosted a vast array of crafting events: from making flower arrangements, artwork from broken jewelry, marbled painting designs, and our own pet rocks! And with expanded Makerspace hours, 2024 was truly the year of making.

We had an AMAZING Summer Reading Challenge this year, and we can’t wait to start it all over again next year. We’ll see you soon to take on the challenge in 2025!