Expectations are always high for summer. We want the weather to be perfect (not too hot, not much rain, please), to engage in epic adventures every day, and for time to slow down so we can bask in sunlit days and balmy evenings, perhaps with a great book on our lap while watching our kids run through the sprinkler. Yet some of our hopes for this summer quickly fell by the wayside as our warm weather seemed to take an extra long time to arrive and then went into overdrive, reaching the “too hot” category, only to be followed by unseasonal thunderstorms and excessive rain. Time did seem to slow down, but not in the way we had hoped. 

The June 3rd closure of the Mill Creek Library didn't help, and led to what felt for many of us like a very long summer indeed. While we all waited excitedly for completion of the much-needed, long-awaited repairs and updates to the building, library life, programs, and activities continued online and in other physical locations. And the Friends of the Mill Creek Library continued to promote literacy and community connection through support of many library programs including Story Time, adult programs with Silver Kite™ and the writer’s series, and one of our favorites, the Summer Reading Challenge for kids and teens. 

The Friends provide the prize books for finishers of the challenge. To complete the challenge, kids and teens (ages 0-18)  need to read for 10 hours during the summer.  “Reading” includes everything from being read to, to looking at picture books, to listening to audio books, to reading magazines, e-books, and good old fashioned physical books. Hours can be tracked online or using a paper reading log.  

The Summer Reading Challenge is usually quite popular at the Mill Creek Library, with 1,185 finishers last year. However with the building closure, it appears most finishers selected other branches as their “home” library, as just under 300 finishers listed Mill Creek as their library this year. System wide, 5,982 readers earned a prize book this year. Well done!  

Two Mill Creek Library patrons who completed this year’s challenge for the first time are brothers Asher (11) and Reuben (8). Mom Jessica says they were all surprised by the rather short notice about the library’s closure, but the boys say they did enjoy visiting the Lynnwood branch once a week. It sounds like it was all about getting their hands on more books to read, though. Asher “really wanted to earn that prize!” and sometimes had to be told to take a break from reading and go outside. Both boys are avid readers and utilized a variety of the allowable reading formats including audio books, e-books, and physical books. A favorite was the P.J. Funnybunny series. 

Like all of us, Asher and Reuben were very excited to see what the repaired and refreshed library would look like, so the whole family made the trip to check it out on September 7th. While Reuben “didn’t really think it would look different,” he found that “at first it seemed really different.” The first surprise was coming to a double set of doors where there used to be a single set. Although the new kids’ area is smaller than before, Asher found a lot to like, from the new carpet to the updated restroom fixtures to the bright yellow flowers on the front desk.  

Even though summer is over, these boys seem ready for the new season and all it brings. When asked if they will participate in next summer’s reading challenge, the answer was a hearty, double “Yes!”