Adults, Litchfield Library is offering a reading challenge for you this summer! To observe the 250th anniversary of the United States, read 5 things from a long list of possibilities, and bring in your completed sheet by August 15 for a small prize. The reading log is available at the front desk. Make sure to check the back of the sheet for all of your options. You can read the core documents of the U.S., read Revolutionary War history or historical fiction, or read about American history and culture across the whole 250 years and more. The semiquincentennial is a great occasion to learn more about all of America, not only its founding or government.

Want a copy of the U.S. Constitution to keep? Pick up a free pocket-sized copy at the front desk!

View the reading challenge here: Adult America 250 reading challenge

To help us celebrate our Plant a Seed, Read summer reading theme, Meeker County Farm Bureau is helping us with a special storytime! On Friday, June 26, join us on the lawn next to the library at 10:15 a.m. for a blueberry-themed storytime. Along with stories, songs, and activities, blueberries will be served. Bring chairs or blankets to sit on. If the weather does not cooperate, the program will be held in the children’s area of the library.

This is part of our regular Kids’ Storytime series on Fridays, open to kids of all ages. Free to attend. No need to sign up. Children age 7 and younger must be accompanied by an adult or teen caregiver, and caregivers are encouraged to participate with their children.

Pioneerland libraries will be closed on Friday, June 19, for the Juneteenth holiday. Libraries will be open regular Saturday hours.

Litchfield Library’s Knitting Club meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the library’s meeting room. Bring your knitting or crochet project and work alongside other fiber artists. Get knitting advice from an expert knitter. Open to all ages. No need to sign up. Free to attend.

Dates:

• June 18
• July 16
• August 20

UPDATE: Class is full. You may call the library to be added to the waiting list.

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, join us to make a wooden firecracker decoration! This month’s Adult Arts & Crafts program will be held on Thursday, June 25, at 6:30 p.m. Space is limited, so call the library at 320-693-2483 or stop in to sign up. You may sign up yourself and only one optional guest to attend with you. Free to attend, and all supplies are provided. Adults only. No social media or email registrations will be accepted.

Since demand for this program is so high, if you sign up and are unable to attend, please contact the library as soon as possible so that someone on the waiting list can attend.

Back by popular demand: Kids’ Craft Time will be offered once a month this summer! This free program will be held in the meeting room 4:30-5:30 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of the month: June 16, July 21, and August 18. No need to sign up. Children younger than age 8 must be accompanied and assisted by an adult or teen caregiver.

Summer storytimes at the Litchfield Library will begin June 3rd and run through August 14. On Wednesdays at 10:15, Baby/Toddler Storytime will be a simple half hour storytime with music and movement and without a craft, geared to children 3 and younger, but open to all children and their caregivers. On Fridays at 10:15, Kids’ Storytime will be a 45 minute to 1 hour storytime with special programs some weeks and stories, songs, and crafts other weeks, geared to preschoolers and elementary school age children, but open to all children and their caregivers.

Wednesday storytimes will be held in the children’s area of the library.

Friday storytimes will be held on the lawn on the south side of the library in front of the garage, weather permitting. Bring chairs or a blanket to sit on. During inclement weather, the program will be held in the children’s area of the library. The alternative location in case of bad weather for the June 5 storytime would be the Litchfield Opera House.

Children younger than age 8 must be accompanied by an adult or teen caregiver. Caregivers are encouraged to participate with their children. Free to attend. No need to sign up.

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Litchfield Library Foundation bookmark contest! Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Litchfield Library Foundation bookmark contest! Asher’s design will be featured on this year’s library bookmark, which will be handed out at the Watercade parade in July and then made available at the library for the coming year. All three winners will get a cash prize from the foundation. A display featuring the winners and finalists will be set up in the display case next to the copier room in the library through Watercade weekend.

In an effort to make registration for the very popular Adult Arts & Crafts classes more fair and less confusing, there will be a couple of new rules beginning June 1:

You may call or stop in to sign up yourself and up to one other person. If you are not registering for the class yourself, you cannot register other people. No bulk sign-ups: just yourself and, if you wish, one guest who will attend with you.

No sign-ups via social media (Messenger) or email. This has been rare, and we have directed people to call instead, but this is now official. It’s too difficult for library staff to watch that and get people in at the right time.

As always, registration opens on the 1st of the month, and we cannot take requests before that to put you on the list. If the library is closed on the 1st, registration will open on the first day the library is open after that.

These rules apply to only the Adult Arts & Crafts program that happens once a month, because of the level of demand. These rules are similar to those other local libraries have for high-demand programs.

We appreciate your understanding as we strive to make the class first come-first served, with equitable access to the program.