Onondaga County libraries launch dinosaur-themed summer reading season

Onondaga County Public Libraries are turning summer reading into a countywide attraction, wrapping its “Unearth a Story” theme around reptile programs, a strawberry social and a new card-collecting game that can keep children reading for free while school is out. REPCO Wildlife Encounters is bringing an hour-long interactive reptile program to branches across Syracuse, with ten animals from around the world and real fossils on display.

The reptile events are scheduled at Petit Branch, White Branch, Mundy Branch, Betts Branch, Beauchamp Branch and Central Library, giving families multiple chances to build a library stop into a summer outing. OCPL says the programs are supported by funds from the M&T Charitable Foundation, a sign that the county system is leaning on outside help to make the hands-on lineup free and widely available.

The season opened with a familiar neighborhood tradition at Soule Branch Library, where the 2026 Strawberry Social and Book Sale was set for Wednesday, June 24, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Soule Branch, which has served the Salt Springs neighborhood since 1965, paired the social with a button-making station where visitors could make strawberry, dinosaur or book-themed buttons and sign up for summer reading. For a library branch that has anchored the East Side for six decades, the event doubled as a reminder that reading is being marketed as something social and festive, not a homework assignment.

That approach continues when Reading Dragons begins at city libraries on Monday, June 29. Children who register at any city library receive three starter cards and a “How to Play” card, then can collect mythical creature cards for every 30 minutes of reading, up to three cards a week. Books, audiobooks, magazines and graphic novels all count, a setup that lets families use the library as a low-cost substitute for camps, enrichment classes or anything that would otherwise keep kids occupied on a summer afternoon.

OCPL’s summer programs are also reaching beyond the branch walls. Free books have been restocked at the Reading Runway near the TSA checkpoint at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, giving travelers something to pick up, read and pass along. Together with the reptile shows and the card game, the airport shelf shows how the library system is trying to meet readers where they are, whether they are at the branch, on the road or waiting for a flight.