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FAIRMONT — Over 300 community members gathered “All Together Now” for the Marion County Public Library’s summer reading program kick-off event.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday June 10, the carnival-like kickoff event was hosted at the National Guard Armory. There was free bounce houses, games, face-painting, informational tables and lunch for participants. The event is to celebrate the start of the summer reading program, which will run until July 30 and offer free crafts and activities at all of the Marion County Public Library branches and the libraries in Bridgeport and Clarksburg. Their theme “All Together Now,” focuses on bringing people together to celebrate the joy of reading.
Marion County Public Library System General Manager Kerry Trahan said the event started slow, but really picked up around 12:30 p.m.. She said she was excited to see so many people attend, 80 percent of whom she said are active library patrons.
“This is the third time we’ve held this event. We like to add new things every year, so hopefully next year we’ll have some more options. But, I think, for the most part, everything went well. I have to talk to my staff later and see, but they have a smile on their face, so I take that as a success,” Trahan said.
The summer reading program is open for all ages. The program and crafts and activities are organized in age groups — Pre-K and Kindergarten, ages six to 11, tweens and teens and adults. Marion County Public Library System Public Relations Manager Cara Simms said some of the activities range from making wind chimes to care packages for community members in need. The library will be collecting a variety of non-perishable food items, hygiene products and monetary donations, which can be dropped off in the Fairmont Library Branch during open hours until July 10 or monetary donations can be mailed until June 30.
Some of the participants at the kickoff said they were having a blast. They’d spent the afternoon running around, playing games and making crafts.
“I’m having a lot of fun because there’s a whole bunch of cool stuff here,” 11-year-old Hudson Baldwin said.
He was joined by seven-year-olds Luca Viani and Logan Weaver who all said different parts of the event were their favorite.
“I really like the bounce house best because it’s fun to jump around,” Logan said.
The kickoff event was the first Simms had helped plan. She agreed with Trahan that it picked up slow, but said it was a success. Simms was in charge of the photo booth station, which had two backgrounds and several props to take pictures with. She also had multiple colors of spray hair dye, which she said she ran out of.
“It was really fun. All of the kids seemed to be having fun and the parents seemed to be having fun, as well. I think everything went really well. … It was fun when the adults would pick stuff from the photo booth times and would take their own photos. … They weren’t thinking, ‘Oh, this is just for the kids.’ They were included too,” Simms said.
Both Simms and Trahan said they are working on developing more library programs and adding more to the event next year. To register for the summer reading program or for more information, visit the Marion County Public Library website.
