Adams County Public Library launches countywide summer reading program

Adams County Public Library is turning the start of summer into a countywide schedule of reading, crafts, movies and writing classes, giving families a structured way to keep children learning after school lets out. The 2026 Summer Reading Program runs from May 20 through July 11 under the theme “Unearth a Story,” and the library is pitching it to readers of all ages, not just children. Team Leader Sherry and staff at the Peebles Library have already been decorating for the rollout.

The program matters because the library system is built to serve rural Adams County as a shared network, not as four separate storefronts. Manchester, Peebles, North Adams and West Union now operate as one countywide system, a consolidation that took shape in 1999, with North Adams joining in 2000. Nicholas Slone serves as executive director, and the branch lineup gives families multiple places to plug into the same summer schedule.

Manchester will spend the season handing out Take-Home Craft Kits, an easy option for households that want a pickup activity without having to build their own. Peebles will open the calendar with its monthly Book Club on Monday, May 18, at 5:30 p.m., when members will discuss Confronting the Presidents by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. That same branch will also host Breaking into Book Writing, a six-week workshop led by Carol Cartaino, a longtime editor and former editor-in-chief of Writer’s Digest Books. The sessions run Wednesdays from May 20 through June 24, from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

The countywide kickoff begins May 20 with a showing of Ohio: Wild at Heart, along with nature-themed crafts and activities. From there, the summer theme leans hard into dinosaurs, paleontology, archaeology, genealogy and history, tying reading to subjects that can pull in kids, teens and adults alike. The week of May 21 adds dinosaur-themed programs at Manchester, Peebles and North Adams, then closes with a Dinosaur Safari Party at West Union on May 23 at noon. Families there will decorate cookies and safari hats, take part in a scavenger hunt and meet Sam from the Edge of Appalachia.

The summer push also fits the library’s broader role as an access point for the county. Beyond books, Adams County Public Library offers computers, WiFi, genealogy resources, eMedia, technology help and community links, making the summer lineup part of a larger public service network that reaches well beyond checkout desks.