Grab your duffle bag and pack a good book because the Delaware County District Library’s annual Summer Reading Club is back with storytimes, programs and prizes from May 28 through July 27. The annual reading program, themed “Adventure Begins at Your Library” for 2024, encourages children to continue reading through the summer, preventing a loss of learning gained during the school year.

Youth readers ages 0–12 are challenged to read 12 hours over the summer and will receive prizes at 6- and 12-hour milestones. Included in the six-hour prize will be a color-changing cup and a collection of coupons, discounts and free giveaways provided by local businesses all around Delaware County and central Ohio. The 12-hour grand prize is a book of the child’s choosing to keep for their personal library.

Adults and teens are also encouraged to read books or attend library programs to participate in the Summer Reading Club. Any combination of four books read or programs attended will earn participants a prize. Teens will earn a book upon the completion of their first bookmark, and adults will receive a water bottle. Additional teen and adult bookmark entries will be entered into a final raffle drawing for a prize basket, curated by DCDL librarians.

The Summer Reading Club does not require registration. Participants may download a reading log from www.delawarelibrary.org/summerreading or keep track in a notebook, then stop by any branch and tell a DCDL staff member when it’s time to pick up a prize. Prizes may be picked up between May 28 and July 27, as supplies last.

Support for the DCDL Summer Reading Club is provided through the generosity of the Friends of the Delaware County District Library (FOL). On April 16, during the regular meeting of the DCDL Board of Trustees, the FOL presented DCDL with a check for $20,000 to support the Summer Reading Club. The funds have been used to purchase the prize books for youth and teen readers, as well as support several programs to be held over the summer. Magician Erica Carlson’s “Hedgehog Mystery Magic with Sedgie the Hedgie” show, “Pet Portraits” with local artist Becky Gehrisch, and “Concerts at the Library with Cap City Brass” presented by the Central Ohio Symphony will be brought to four branches of the library thanks to funding from the Friends.

In conjunction with the “Adventure Begins at Your Library” theme for 2024, other fun programs will include “Upside Down Fairy Town” presented by River City Puppets for families, a “Bridgeton Bash” for adults, and adventures in “Junk Food Olympics” for tweens. To see a list of all upcoming programs, visit www.delawarelibrary.org/event.

Once again, this year DCDL will partner with Preservation Parks of Delaware County to help sign kids up and distribute prizes for the Summer Letterbox Adventure – a form of geocaching and scavenger hunting using clues instead of coordinates. Registration opens May 15 and the adventure begins May 25. Families finding four letterboxes at any park will win a prize, while supplies last.

Returning for the fourth summer is the library’s partnership with Delaware County Prosecutor Melissa Schiffel for her Schiffel’s Safety Scholars summer reading program. The program invites children to participate in a book-writing contest for elementary-aged children and a billboard design contest for youth in middle and high school. Winners will have their book published or their design displayed on a billboard in Delaware County. Prosecutor Schiffel and a special guest therapy animal will be at the Delaware Main Library for storytime on June 21 and the Liberty Branch Library for storytime on June 25.

Participants can get started at www.delawarelibrary.org/summerreading.

Submitted by the Delaware County District Library.