Summer Reading 2023

At the start of every school year, I could always predict what my first assignment would be. That assignment was always to write a report about what you did over the summer. If I was given that assignment here at work and asked what LAMP did over the summer, the answer would be “read!” For the 2023 Summer Reading Program, we challenged you to read 1,500 books and you did not disappoint!

The theme for this year’s Summer Reading was “All Together Now,” and all together our patrons read 1,775 titles! This year we not only challenged you to read 1,500 books, but we also sent you some specific reading challenges. We gave you six different challenges: Read a book recommended by a Reader Advisor, a book you loved as a kid, a book about Pennsylvania, a book by an author you never read before, a book recommended by a friend, and a book by or about an entertainer. If you completed three of the six challenges, you received another prize. The feedback we received from the challenges was very positive. The Reader Advisors sincerely enjoyed hearing patrons discuss the books they selected for the challenges, in particular which book they loved as a kid. We look forward to coming up with new challenges for you to try.

Thank you to everyone who participated in making this Summer Reading such a success. To all of you who really took on the challenges and left messages telling us how much you enjoyed participating in Summer Reading, and to the staff who worked so hard to make sure you had a great experience, we are grateful. We love creating and sharing these programs with you and really appreciate all the feedback and hearing how much joy it brings to so many of you.

One of my favorite things about Summer is sitting on my front porch after work and reading for an hour or two until the sun goes down. Very soon the leaves will start to turn, the air will become crisp, and when I leave work, it will be dark outside. As much as I enjoy sitting in the warm summer sun reading, nothing is more enjoyable to me than sitting in my favorite chair with a book, a blanket, a cup of tea, and my cats. Last year for the first time, LAMP had a Winter Reading program. I always feel like I read more in the Fall and the Winter than in the Summer as some days there is not much more to do than stay inside. If we were able to read 1,500 books over the Summer, could we possibly read 2,000 over the Winter?

Details about the Winter Reading program will be coming out over the next couple of months, so keep checking the newsletter and the website. You can also stay up to date on the latest programs and events by going to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MyLAMP.org or our Instagram page at read_with_lamp.