The Syosset Library is keeping busy this season, with summer reading programs underway and weekly programs for all ages. This summer’s reading challenge, “Color Our World,” takes on a literal meaning this year, with fresh paint, carpeting and a new color scheme on the library’s upgraded first and second floors.
“Summer is always a busy time at the library,” said Sharon Long, assistant library director. The summer reading challenge allows library-goers to track which books they read and enter raffles to win prizes for their completion.
The summer season kicked off in June with the reading challenge, which was celebrated on June 11, shortly after a “Chalk the Walk” program earlier last month decorated the library’s parking lot with bold colors.
The event invited residents to celebrate the beginning of the reading challenge, with a special visit from Spiderman. Long said child participants at the kickoff received a rainbow unicorn stuffed animal to “keep with the colorful motif.”
Teen participants received a free book, thanks to the Kensington Public Library, Long said. She said all visitors also had the opportunity to get a free tote bag for their participation.
The reading event will continue throughout July and August, with frequent events and celebrations. Story hours and reading clubs will be hosted for all ages, and an adult summer reading wrap-up on Aug. 8 will welcome Author Sarah Beth Durst, who will be discussing her novel “The Warbler and The Enchanted Greenhouse.”
But reading challenges aren’t the only thing on the docket for the library this summer. A new addition to the library’s programming is a “Summerween” celebration on July 31.
Long said the “new whimsical, unofficial holiday,” popularized by the Disney show “Gravity Falls,” celebrates Halloween twice a year. The library’s celebration this month will offer trick-or-treating for patrons dressed in costume and a tarot-reading soiree, she said.
Long said the “extraordinary, story-filled, interactive tarot experience” will feature authors Sasha Graham and Holly Buczek, who published books about tarot readings.
Amid the large celebrations and events at the library, weekly programming ranges from arts and crafts to research and STEM activities. Long said one of the “hidden gems” at the library is its summer rental program. In addition to beach reads, she said library cardholders can rent everything from camping tents and beach chairs to outdoor games and an inflatable outdoor movie screen.
However, the library doesn’t only offer programs in-house. Long said specialty programs take patrons outside of Syosset, including birdwatching trips at the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary in Oyster Bay and Tuesday night trivia at Salute Restaurant in Plainview. She said that not everyone knows the library offers excursions and off-site activities, which are a great way to meet new people in a different environment.
Long said the library is ready to welcome patrons of all ages this season at its regularly scheduled programs as well as its one-of-a-kind celebrations. For more programming information, visit syossetlibrary.org.
Read More: Patti Schust’s kaleidoscope of fabric hangs at the Syosset Library
