Unearth A Story at your Local Library
By Casey Applebaum
Williamson County Public Library System
Youth Services Manager
When school lets out for Summer, the Williamson County Public Library System digs into the annual, all-summer, event called Summer Reading, and this year we are venturing to “Unearth A Story” or two.
What is Summer Reading?
Summer Reading Programs, also sometimes called Summer Learning Programs, occur at libraries across the nation to motivate people of all ages to visit the library, uncover something new, and dig deep into reading. The human brain functions on the “use it or lose it” principle. When students are out of school for the summer, often they begin to allow all the learning from their school year to go extinct bit by bit, resulting in a “summer slide” in learning. However, when students and learners of all ages engage their brains in reading and other activities even when school is out, anything is “fossible”, including preventing the loss of hard-earned knowledge.
Each year, the WCPLS participates in the Collaborative Summer Library Program through the State of Tennessee with a new theme each year. Previous years have included themes such as “Color Our World” and “Dream Big, Read”. The theme for the summer of 2026 is “Unearth a Story” and WCPLS plans to bring Dinosaurs and history galore.
What is there to do?
The bones of Summer Reading at the WCPLS fall into two categories, library activities and program and the library reading challenge. From May 30th to July 31st, participants of all ages are invited to RAWRsome programs and activities occurring across all the library branches. WCPLS will reach back into the age of dinosaurs with Dino Story Times, Paleontologist visits, Magicians, Escape rooms and more while other events will help to dig into family roots and celebrate the 250th year of the United States of America.
Budding archeologists and explorers, and friends can earn rewards, such as new books, for taking time to exercise their brain and read through the summer as well. All you have to do is register as a reader starting on May 21st and keep track of the amount of time you spend reading. Log the time you or your children read using the library’s reading challenge website or app (Beanstack) and earn rewards as you meet milestones. Readers can participate as Listeners (ages 0-5), Readers (ages 5-11), Teens (ages 12-18), or Adults (ages 18 and up) and each category provides an opportunity to win a grand prize by completing the reading challenge.
Summer Reading Program at WCPLS is free and accessible to the entire Williamson County community. Audiobooks, E-books, Graphic Novels or Stone Tablets, it doesn’t matter. They all are dino-mite in our eyes and count towards your reading total. Even if you are unable to attend any events, you can participate in the reading challenge from afar and collect your earned rewards any time before August 15th.
Help the library get a Rawr-ing start to summer by joining us at your local branch for an official kick-off event on Saturday, May 30th and be sure to check out the library website or WCPLS Summer Reading Brochure to learn even more information about everything happening at your local library this summer.
Summer Reading at WCPLS is made possible with funding from the Williamson County Public Library Foundation (wilcolibraryfoundation.org). For more information about Summer Reading Programs and services across the Williamson County Public Library System, visit wcpltn.org or your local WCPL branch.