LIVERPOOL — Plenty of people in Liverpool have pledged to help make this a community that wants to read.

For our Summer Celebration 2021, we decided to take a different angle on our Summer Reading Program. What traditionally was three separate Summer Reading program Clubs for children, teens and adults, where folks signed up to their respective online categories and proceeded to log in their minutes or number of books read, has now turned into one simple concept — Let’s Read, Liverpool!

This summer everybody has been given the opportunity to sign a pledge and then read what they want, how they want. The colorful certificates have been available at the library, from our Community Engagement staffers all around Liverpool, and on our website. The simple online form can be found by aiming your smartphone at the accompanying code.

Our many events on the Dinosaur Garden lawn have been tailored to foster that love for reading.
We’re halfway through the summer and …

Almost 900 people have filled out that online pledge!

“This is not your typical Syracuse summer,” said LPL librarian Laurel Griffith. “We kicked off our summer with a heat wave, and people still came out to see the library at Picnics at the Park (on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Onondaga Lake Park). People are happy to stop and chat. It feels good to be able to do more of that this summer.”

Patrons have truly appreciated the programs, out in Liverpool and at the library, said Community Engagement staffer Edina Osmanovic.

“The enthusiasm of both the adults and the children continues to amaze me,” she said. “We have reached so many in places such as blood drives, in the parks and other establishments. Going out into the community and communicating has created a good relationship for the library and the patron.”

Patrons have shown how much they appreciate it.

“I had a dad speak to me at Johnson Park, and he was worried he wouldn’t have enough to do with his son,” said Osmanovic. “Not only is it costly to go to places all the time, but it is a hardship for those who may be unemployed. He said, ‘I wonder what the Liverpool Library is doing this summer?’ and he was so excited that we had so many events. He signed his family up for the pledge, got a free book, spun our wheel and played games on the library lawn. This to me is what it is all about. Not having the pressure of cost and being able to do fun things with your kids.”

Librarian Alison McCarthy said kids and their families were eager to return to the live events she’s been involved in.

“Every program I’ve done so far, whether it is STEAM activities or Story Time, has been full of grateful parents and eager kids jumping into whatever we have planned for the day,” she said. “I have also been on the receiving end of many ‘thanks for doing this’ comments afterward.”

The rest of the summer will be full of more reading-related fun. Find the LPL events at lpl.org/events/programs-and-events/events-calendar/.

Community members can still sign up for Let’s Read, Liverpool! at lpl.org/events/programs-and-events/summercelebration/.

“I’m looking forward to the events on the library’s lawn and seeing how many people in the community pledge to read overall,” Griffith said.