The Oneida County Library’s Summer Reading Program wrapped up another successful season, setting a new record for participation and reading hours that left the community buzzing with pride!

This year’s theme, “Color Our World,” brought together 302 young readers over the course of six vibrant weeks filled with stories, creativity, and connection. Together, participants logged a staggering 7,230 hours of reading — the most ever recorded in the program’s history.

Each week, children gathered at the park to listen to stories read aloud and acted out, followed by a wide variety of hands-on art activities designed to spark imagination and reinforce a love of learning. Projects included rock painting, collages, nature art, chalk art, and mosaics — all tying into the colorful theme that encouraged kids to explore the world through books and creativity.

“We love putting on this program every year! This year’s program was one of the most successful we’ve had,” said Jeni Sperry, the new Library Directory and Laura deJong, the new Assistant Library Director. “Seeing so many of our own community’s kids and parents  gather together to read and be creative is great!. We love the kids in our community and hope to help them love reading. Hopefully the library can be a place where they can come to read, play, explore, and be creative.”

Unlike previous years, this summer featured weekly prize giveaways, giving children something exciting to look forward to each time they participated in an activity. These fun incentives helped keep engagement high and rewarded consistent involvement. Some of the prizes included donated lunch boxes donated by the Oneida Crisis Center and 3D printed dragons by Brayden Wood.

The library wouldn’t be able to provide this program and these experiences for the families in our community without the help of grants and donations.  We would like to thank the Bistline Grant for $5000 we received through the Idaho Community Foundation (ICF), Scottish Rite Masons of Idaho through the Idaho Commission for Libraries (ICfL) for the free books to give away, Malad City for letting us use the park and stage every Tuesday and the splash pad for our party, Oneida Crisis Center for their donation of Lunch Boxes, Brayden Wood for the 3D printed dragons, Schreiber Food for the cheese at our party, West Liberty Food for the lunch meat at out party, The Martindales for endlessly providing train rides at our party, and Mini Madness for the mini horse cart rides! 

“Our staff is amazing at preparing for these weekly events and activities and they deserve a huge thank you,” said Laura and Jeni. “They develop, create, organize, set up, clean up. They always go above and beyond!”

The program was more than just books and prizes — it was a celebration of imagination, learning, and community. As the Oneida County Library staff look ahead to next summer, they hope to build on this year’s success and continue inspiring young minds to read, create, and explore.

Even though the library may be a little quieter, our Adult Summer Reading program is still ongoing. That program closes on August 31st. For more information, you can check our social media accounts or website. Also, look for our new STEM trailer around town. It will be at the fair along with a few other partners. Our preschool story hour for 0-5 year olds will resume in September along with a couple of open STEM days a month at the library. We are excited to move forward to provide a place of learning, creativity, and exploration! The library isn’t just full of books anymore!