Rooted in Reading: Another Successful Summer at the Library

The “Plant a Seed, Read” 2026 Summer Reading Program at the Fergus Falls Public Library is officially over, and what a busy summer it has been! Over 1,600 community members registered for the eight-week program that ran from June 8 to July 31. Summer Reading consists of at-home reading and community-based challenges as well as programs and events held at the library. We also offered our Extra Reading at the Library (ERL) tutoring program for students entering 1st through 6th grade.

Upon registering for the free Summer Reading Program, participants took home gameboards. We had a gameboard for different age categories: Early Learning, Children’s, Teen, and Adult. Registration included 583 adults and 1,075 youth. Each gameboard contains a variety of reading and community challenges to complete. Elementary students who wanted to strengthen reading skills, or students where English was a second language, could participate in a free, weekly 30-minute tutoring session. There were 84 tutoring time slots available each week, including some at Kids Kamp, the summer day camp through the City of Fergus Falls. Participation in ERL helps prevent summer reading regression, also known as the summer slide.

Library youth program highlights included a visit with educators from Chahinkapa Zoo, a Harry Potter teen trivia night, a mysterious plant-themed escape room, and a variety of nature-based arts and crafts programs. We also had a record-breaking year for our Lunch Bunch Book Club, with 45 students in 4th through 8th grade who came to the library each week to eat their lunch and listen while I read “The Green Kingdom” by Cornelia Funke.

The library also offered special grant-funded events which included a coach bus trip to the Cities to visit the Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, and Minneapolis Institute of Art, and a family-friendly, engaging performance from Schiffelly Puppets. These programs were sponsored by Fergus Falls Public Library and Viking Library System and funded in part or in whole with monies from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Summers are the busiest months at the Fergus Falls Public Library. We had over 31,000 visits to the library in June and July and registered 322 people for new library cards!

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the sponsors of both the Summer Reading Program and the Extra Reading at the Library program. Thank you to the Friends of the Fergus Falls Public Library, Lundeen Foundation, Papa Murphy’s Pizza, West Central Initiative Endowed Funds, ISD 544 Community Education, Service Food, Northern Aire Lanes, FF Noon Kiwanis, Otter Risers Kiwanis, and Otter Cove. Without the generous contributions from these businesses and organizations, our summer programs and events would not be possible. Looking ahead to the future, the 2027 summer theme will be “Reading Expands Our Universe” and will have a focus on space and science fiction.

Arielle McCune is the Youth Services Librarian at the Fergus Falls Public Library.