Library highlights record summer attendance and revives traditional summer reading

Olivia McElwain, Head of Public Services, told trustees the library’s summer programming saw a strong resurgence, with 667 people signing up for summer reading across age groups — 103 teens, 140 adults and 424 children — and high return rates among youth participants.

"We had 821 people come. It's the highest in 27 years," McElwain said of the Touch-a-Truck event, which staff moved and rebranded this year. She credited prize choices and a single, unified summer-reading program for adults, teens and children as reasons for higher engagement.

McElwain highlighted other successful offerings: Summer Sizzlers drew about 150 attendees and the Friends’ themed mocktail fundraiser raised roughly double the group’s typical amount; a henna program attracted more than 30 teens; and a community reading of Frederick Douglass’s "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July" featured 18 readers and about 40 attendees. Two teen winners of the RPL Foundation writing contest were published in the teen room and read at a reception.

Staff said the revived, traditional task-and-prize format appeared to motivate families to participate together, and that adult participation (140 sign-ups) was the highest in recent memory. Trustees thanked staff for the presentation and acknowledged the program’s role in community engagement.