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
Youth Services
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!
May 5th-10th 2025 Teen Programs
Monday: No program, but feel free to come hang out in our teen space and use the computers, coloring pages, or board games.
Tuesday: Teen Temporary Tattoo Creation @ 3pm: Use our stencils and skin safe markers to create a temporary tattoo on yourself or on friends.
Wednesday: BookTok Book Group @ 3pm: Join us to discuss To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose and make a bookish TikTok for the library Tiktok!
Thursday: Flower Pot Painting @ 3pm: Come get creative and paint a flower pot. Use this for yourself or as a Mother’s Day present!
Friday: No program, but feel free to come hang out in our teen space and use the computers, coloring pages, or board games.
Saturday: Dungeon’s and Dragons @ 10-2pm: Local DM Reggie from the Dragon’s Maze leads a drop-in campaign free for all!
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!
