22 Apr Summer Reading Announcement

Families of Shelby County,

We, your Library Director and Youth Services Librarian, are writing to make you aware of changes to the Shelby County Public Library’s annual Summer Reading program. Our community–and world–are in the midst of unparalleled circumstances. We realize we’re just one of many organizations forced to make changes to longstanding traditions with the safety and wellbeing of our patrons, staff, community, and presenters in mind.

The theme for the 2020 Summer Reading is Imagine Your Story. Such a theme, chosen well before the COVID-19 outbreak began, is particularly apt for these difficult times. In that spirit, we are not cancelling the Summer Reading program, but instead making significant changes to the structure of the program. We did not anticipate making substantial changes to one of our most popular programs and recognize that this will likely cause disappointment. Trust that we are equally disappointed.

SCPL will not host in-person Summer Reading events. Last year, our Summer Reading events drew a crowd of 400+ people. The Library cannot, in good faith, host an event that will bring in that many people and potentially cause harm to the public.

SCPL has transitioned to an online system to track participation and achievements. We are still finalizing the details of the registration and participation processes and will communicate all details to the community once registration is open for Summer Reading. While we are transitioning to the online system, a physical reading log will be available upon request.

The Summer Reading program does not begin until June 1 and we hope our situation has improved by then. These modifications are largely preventative. We will, as always, follow the guidance from local health professionals when making decisions about our programming.

We appreciate your understanding and patience as we all continue to adapt to new ways of life.

Sincerely,

Pamela W. Federspiel
Library Director
admin@scplibrary.net

Megan Langlois
Youth Services Librarian
meganl@scplibrary.net