Middlesboro-Bell County Library will be participating in the Summer Reading Program, with the theme “Oceans of Possibilities.”

Youth Services Librarian Megan Jeffery said this is their first in-person summer reading since 2019.

To kick off this years program on June 1, Barry Mitchell will be performing a puppet and magic show. “We’ve got programs for toddlers, so six months to pre-K. We have programs for elementary age kids, kindergarten through sixth grade, and we also have teen programs for ages 12 and up,” said Jeffery. The program will consist of certain days being for certain ages with one day being open to everyone.

Some big highlights of the program include: “The Little Mermaid” presented by Bright Star, a virtual tour of the Ripley’s  Aquarium of the Smokies, and a teen escape room.

Jeffery said on the first day participants will get their schedule, prize information, and reading logs. “We’re also going to be doing some book clubs this summer; that’s something new,” said Jeffery. The library will be offering book club meetings for young elementary, older elementary, and a teen group.

Each week will feature different themes, including a pirate theme, mermaid, and shark week. “We’re going to have a teen escape room in July for pirate week. They’re going to have to find the lost treasure,” said Jeffery.

Each age group will work on different crafts. “For the teens, we’re going to be doing shark tooth jewelry during shark week with actually shark teeth,” said Jeffery. Other crafts are seashell bowl painting, sand art and crab hats for the toddlers. Snack will be provided during each day.

The finale for this years’ program will be a luau. “We’re going to have a little luau for the kids. We’ll have some fun activities for them to do and have grass skirts and leis, and give away our prizes,” said Jeffery.

All ages groups will begin at 11 a.m. except for the teen group, days where movies will be shown, and book clubs. Those will begin at 2 p.m. “We’re really excited because this is the first one we’ll be having post covid and since out new renovations have been happening, so hopefully we’ll get more people in here who haven’t seen the changes,” said Jeffery. “We miss having kids in here, and families, so we’re just very excited to have everybody back and have a fun time.”