Library Column for September 10, 2026

By Jennifer Barnes, Litchfield Children’ s Librarian

 

In the blink of an eye, or so it seems, summer ended and the calendar flipped to September, and our fall programming schedule has begun. I feel a sense of relief that we have successfully wrapped up our annual Summer Reading Program. From donated prizes to cooperative programming that took us beyond the library walls, the community has been so supportive, and that support contributed a great deal to the success of this year’s program.

We would like to extend our thanks to local businesses and organizations who donated tour 2026 Summer Reading Program: Plant a Seed, Read:

Arby’s-Hutchinson

Jimmy’s Pizza- Litchfield

Taco John’s-Litchfield

Stockmen’s Nursery

Rise + Roam

Ramsey Printing

Dairy Queen-Litchfield

Subway

McDonald’s

Fantastic Sams

Kwik Trip

Pizza Hut-Litchfield

Startled Fruit Design

Simply Good Coffee

Litchfield Area Community Foundation

We had 345 youth sign up this year, and of those 58 were tweens and teens aged 11-18. Loads of reading logs were turned in throughout the summer, so much so that we had to go shopping to refill our prize stash at least three times.

This summer the library provided 47 youth programs, with an approximately 1600 people attending these events. A sample of activities we did this summer include making teacup fairy gardens, turmeric sun painting for teens, painting and art classes, and the MN Science Museum. And who can forget the Raptor Center? The library also sent home approximately 253 take-n-make crafts for kids and teens.

This year the library tried several new things. We took programming offsite. This included a monthly bilingual storytime at Memorial Park, an event at Jimmy’s Pizza, storytime at the Community Market, and a storytime and craft at Rise + Roam. We wrapped up August with a storytime at the Wreede Good Apple Orchard and a Venus flytrap escape room for teens.

We had numerous community organizations as special guests for our Friday morning storytimes: our local Farm Bureau, a representative from the local branch of Pheasants Forever, the Watercade Royalty, the Meeker County Dairy Princesses, a local USDA conservationist, and a state park naturalist.

In addition to all of this, we had wonderful online participation as followers tried to guess where in town the Good Egg had been each week. Thank you to all of the businesses and organizations who graciously assisted me as I photographed the Good Egg all around town. Meanwhile, the Bad Seed hid all around the library, and countless children spent time finding this mischievous mascot. As promised, one lucky child won the Bad Seed stuffie. We drew a name from all of the reading logs that were turned in.

It truly is a community coming together that made our 2026 Summer Reading Program such an enormous success. We cannot express our gratitude enough. Thank you again to the businesses and community organizations who donated. Whether it be tangible items or time, your support has not gone unnoticed. Thank you also to the patrons who showed up. Parents, grandparents, teens, childcare centers, and all of the kids who are excited to come to the library-you make us smile. You are the reason we work hard each day. You are the reason the library is a community hub. Thank you.