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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

The Chilton-Clanton Public Library wrapped up their summer reading program with a pizza party celebration and closing ceremonies on June 28. The program had over 475 attendees throughout the weekly programs. The program was open to children and adults, and participants read a total of 1,498 books.

“We are just blown away by how many kids and adults we had in our program,” bookkeeper Jennifer Jones said. “It just gets bigger and bigger.”

The children participating were divided into age groups and a tally of how many books each child read was kept. The child who read the most books in their age group won an Android 11 tablet and were recognized during the closing ceremonies. Each child who participated received their own library card to check out books.

The winners were Jesiah Knight in the fifth-sixth grade group, Keandra Knight in the third-fourth grade group, Emma Clark in the first-second grade group and Ella Clare Bullock in the preschool-kindergarten group.

“The library would like to congratulate every child in our reading program this year. We believe reading is essential because it allows children to dream big and helps them understand the world around them,” Jones said in a statement. “Our director, Darlene Brock, always says, ‘Today A Reader. Tomorrow A Leader,’ and we are confident that this year’s participants will be great leaders in our community.”

Jones said the library has not had many programs since COVID-19 and wanted this program to be big. 2022 was the 11th summer the program has been put on. Throughout the month, the children did rock painting, a magician and a ventriloquist performed and the closing ceremonies.

“Just knowing that are willing to read. I am so proud to see them reading, and this year’s program has been exceptionally good,” Brock said. “It seems like they have had a good time, and it has made us have a good time just being able to open our doors again to the children.”