Summer Reading is right around the corner! Watch for updates, and in the meantime, get the June 24th 10:30am Kick-Off date in your calendar!
Color Our World Summer Reading Program
Children's Programs
Project R.A.B.B.I.T. Read Aloud Night!
On May 29th at 5:00pm, join the library and the Richards School PTO for an evening of family fun, celebrating reading and literacy! Discover the old Newport tradition called Project RABBIT– which stands for Read A Book Because It’s Terrific. Special guests from the community like Fire Chief Yannuzzi will join us to read aloud some picture books, and the Richards PTO will bring snacks!
Bring a book or two to trade at our gently used Book Swap– it’s a great way to trade books your child has outgrown for something at their new level to keep challenging them to keep reading! Invite your kid’s friends’ families to meet you here, so the kids can be surrounded by friends as we all celebrate how important books, reading, and literacy are to us!
Author Visit with Marek Bennett, graphic novel author/illustrator
LOCATION CHANGE
Due to forecasted rain, we’ll hold this event at the Newport Rec gym at 65 Belknap Ave, just down the side-street from the library.
The whole family is invited to meet graphic novel author/illustrator Marek Bennett! The Children’s Literacy Foundation, (CLiF) is sponsoring this visit for the Richards Free Library and Library Arts Center, as well as providing 2 free books to children who attend. Join us at the gym for the perfect rainy-day activity!
How to Do Summer Reading 2024
Our Summer Reading Program, “Adventure Begins at Your Library” begins on June 27th at 10:30 am with a free family concert on the library side lawn, and ends on August 8th with our Ice Cream and Tie-Dye party at 3pm.
Our goal during the 6 weeks of summer reading is to get as many people as possible to read all summer long. Children who read regularly during the summer are much less likely to suffer from Summer Learning Loss, and go into the next school year ready to learn! We want to show Newport kids how many people are reading with them this summer, so we’re using animal stickers!
We’ll see how many animal friends we can get to join our quest on the big bulletin board in the Children’s Room. For every day that someone spends time reading, they’ll add a critter sticker to this week’s Quest Board section. At the end of each week, we’ll add the section to the Quest Board, and see how much closer our big group of animal buddies has gotten to the end of the Quest! By the end of the summer, we should have a TON of animal friends along for the ride. How many can you add?
We want kids to be extra motivated to read, so kids get a brag-tag necklace when they register for summer reading, and every day they read earns a bead to add to the necklace! 5 days of reading will earn the chance to pick out a special fancy bead as well as a prize book from our cart, and 10 days of reading earn a fancy bead and a McDonald’s Icecream coupon. People who read every day during the 6 weeks of our summer program will earn our wild admiration, as well as an individual little s’mores kit to make a summer adventure a little bit sweeter!
Come to the library often to show us your reading progress and earn your prizes! You’ll love our busy calendar of events for youth of all ages, as well as some for adults!
Summer Reading 2024 “Adventure Begins at Your Library” Events Schedule
June 27th 10:30am KICKOFF Family “Adventure Concert” with Miss Julieann Join us for a free family concert and adventure that will be fun for the whole family. Sing along to catchy new songs written and performed by music therapist Julieann Hartley, and come along as we go on an adventure around the library grounds and learn to look at things a little closer.
June 28th 10-12pm Kids’ Craft Button Making: Drop in to make a home-made button pin or two to adventure with this summer!
July 1st thru July 3rd Drop in Scavenger Hunt! Try out our library-themed scavenger hunt any time. Will you find everything we hid?
July 3rd 11am Adventure Family Story time! Pretend to be your favorite animal for this animal-themed story time for ages 0-6.
July 5th 10-4pm LEGO Day at the library! Build an obstacle to add to our LEGO obstacle course!
July 9th 2pm-3:30pm Unicorn and Dragon Party! Join us for stories, crafts, activities and snacks at this party celebrating our imaginations. Wear a costume to be part of our party parade!
July 10th 6pm Fantasy Map Making. Make your own fantasy map with some tips from an expert world builder! Big kids ages 8+, teens, and adults are all welcome to join in!
July 12th 12-4pm Let’s Crazy Craft! Make anything with our craft supplies: Summer Edition!
July 15th 2 pm Design a Hero: Needle Felt or use LEGO to build an adventurer to take home or use next week for Stop Motion!
July 17th 11am Adventure Story Time: Wonder Quest! Join in for an inspiring story time, and then we’ll go on a Quest around the library grounds to find the wonder surrounding us in the world outdoors. What will you find?
July 19th 1-3pm World Record Challenge. Kids and teens are invited to try out these challenges to see how quickly you can do them compared to the world record! It’s all fun and games, but can you get the fastest times?
July 22nd 1-3pm Make Your Own Adventure: Stop Motion Video. We’ll work together to film a stop-motion adventure, or you can learn some tricks to try it out in your own small group. For kids age 6-11 with their families.
July 23rd 2pm Author Visit with Marek Bennett, the beloved graphic novel author-illustrator who so many Newport kids love. Bring the whole family to meet Marek! The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) is sponsoring this visit and bringing 2 books for each child that attends. The presentation will be on the library side lawn.
July 24th 11 / 11:30am Fairy Houses! Come for our 11am family storytime, and stay to build nature-safe fairy houses on the library side lawn at 11:30. Items found in nature (fallen bark, sticks, shells) from home are welcome to supplement ours.
July 29th and 30th 2-5pm Library Escape Room: Register online or call to reserve a time slot to try our library-themed Escape Room with your friends or family. Kids under 9 will need at least one adult, please!
July 31st 11am Special Story Time: Bubbles! After a bubbly story time we’ll play with Ms Mo’s famous soap bubbles! Rain: Aug 7
August 2nd 10:30am-12 Navigation Games! Join expert Dawn Dextraze to learn an adventure skill and have a blast at the same time! Dawn is Sullivan county’s Natural Resources Education and Outreach Specialist, and she Knows. Her. Stuff!
August 3rd 10:30 -1:30 Stuffed animal drop-off! Drop off your stuffy for a weekend of epic stuffy adventures. Make your plushie a button pin before you go! See you Monday! (Registration required.) Note: Stuffies sleepover, not kids.
August 5th 1pm Stuffed Animal Tea Time Pick Up Party! Join the stuffies for a tea party in the ballroom, and watch a slideshow of all the adventures the Stuffies had over the weekend at the library!
August 6th 3:30pm Frozen T-Shirt Challenge: Can you wiggle into a frozen-solid t-shirt? Don’t miss this Newport tradition! We’ll round out the fun with other outdoor games.
August 8th 3pm Summer Reading Finale Ice Cream & Tie Dye Party! with ice cream donated by Sanctuary Dairy Farms. Bring something white to tie-dye! Kids, teens, and their families are all invited.
