Adams County libraries pack June with summer reading activities

A countywide summer push built around one theme

Adams County Public Library is turning the first full weeks of June into a countywide learning circuit, with free programs in Manchester, North Adams, Peebles and West Union. The 2026 Summer Reading Program, called “Unearth a Story,” runs from May 20 through July 11, and the library is framing it as more than a book challenge: it is a family-friendly mix of stories, science, art and community connection.

The theme is dinosaur-related, but the range is broader than the title suggests. Participants can set their own reading goals by tracking minutes, books, pages or other milestones, a flexible approach that makes the program usable for younger children just starting out, older readers with bigger goals and families reading together at home.

Monday and Tuesday center the week’s busiest branch events

The schedule gets going on Monday, June 8, at 2 p.m. at the Manchester Library with DinoDoodle, a dinosaur drawing class led by Chris, the library’s artist and clerk. It is the kind of hands-on program that gives kids and adults a low-pressure way to join the summer reading effort while also making something they can take home.

On Tuesday, June 9, at 11 a.m., the North Adams Library hosts Kinder Camp Storytime for preschoolers. The program includes books, songs, activities and prizes, along with guest organizations that connect families to local support and learning opportunities: Help Me Grow, Head Start, Girl Scouts, House of Phacops, OSU Extension and Shawnee State University. Later that day, the Manchester Library shifts the focus to science and creativity with a space-themed STEAM Night for all ages, bringing together science, technology, engineering, art and math through experiments and activities.

That Tuesday pairing matters because it shows how the library is serving different age groups in the same week without making families drive far to find something useful. In a rural county, a preschool storytime in one town and a STEAM night in another can make summer programming feel accessible instead of aspirational.

Midweek programs spread across the county

Wednesday expands the countywide pattern. The schedule includes Storytime at both the Manchester and Peebles libraries, fossil-related activities at North Adams, and Breaking into Book Writing at the Peebles Library with Carol Cartaino. The mix is telling: the system is not only keeping children busy, it is also offering a writing workshop that reaches adults and older readers who want to move from reading stories to creating them.

Thursday keeps the momentum going with programs aimed at preschoolers, families and hands-on learners. West Union Library has preschool Storytime, while Peebles Library offers Dino Dig Extravaganza and Dinosaur Eggs Painting and Movie. Back in West Union, the day also includes Dino Discovery: Canvas, Cupcakes, and More, another sign that the summer calendar is designed to blend literacy with creativity and play.

The countywide spread is the point. Instead of concentrating activities in one branch, the library is moving events across multiple towns so families in different parts of Adams County can take part close to home. For a rural system, that approach lowers the practical barrier that often keeps summer enrichment out of reach.

Why the program reaches beyond entertainment

The summer reading campaign reflects a broader role for the library system in Adams County. The Adams County Public Library serves rural Adams County, Ohio, with locations in Manchester, Peebles, Seaman and West Union, and the four public libraries were consolidated into a countywide system in 1999. That structure matters now because it allows the library to present summer reading as a shared public service rather than a string of isolated branch events.

The system’s history also shows how local library access has evolved. North Adams Library became part of the county system in 2000, and the State Library of Ohio ended Southwest Ohio Bookmobile services to Adams County in 2001. Taken together, those changes help explain why the branch network and countywide coordination are so important now: they are the backbone for reaching families in a spread-out rural county.

The library’s broader support network matters too. Adams County Public Library is part of the Serving Every Ohioan Library Consortium, which helps member libraries with automation, cooperative lending and related support. That kind of shared infrastructure is easy to overlook, but it shapes what small and rural libraries can offer, from circulating materials to keeping programming coordinated across branches.

A calendar families can plan around

One practical note stands out for anyone building a June schedule around the library: all library locations will be closed on June 19, 2026, for Juneteenth. That closure gives families an important heads-up before the month fills up with summer plans, travel and school break routines.

The library board is also on the calendar. The Adams County Public Library Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet on June 10, 2026, at the North Adams Library, and the board plans to update its bylaws so new terms will last four years beginning July 1, 2026, in line with changes to Ohio law. That kind of governance detail may sit behind the public-facing programming, but it shapes how the system operates and how it plans for the future.

A summer program rooted in local access

Executive Director Nicholas Slone, who joined the Adams County Public Library in February 2014, has overseen a system that now uses summer reading as a countywide outreach tool. The result is a program that is free, spread across multiple towns and built to serve different ages without forcing families into one schedule or one branch.

For Adams County, that makes “Unearth a Story” more than a slogan. It is a summer map of where children can hear stories, where parents can find learning opportunities and where the library can still function as one of the county’s most practical public spaces.