Nearly 500 people have signed up for the Oglethorpe County Library’s summer reading program, up from last year’s 364, and visitors are outpacing the number of parking spots at the site.
As a result, the library has had to enlist staff to direct traffic and rely on a neighboring lot for overflow parking to accommodate the influx of summer visitors.
“It’s just been a general up climb in the last five years overall, but I think we really are hitting some big numbers this year that we haven’t seen in a while,” said Nicole Hensley, the branch manager.
Organized under the theme “Unearth a Story,” this year’s program focuses on exploration, discovery and digging into the past. Designed to help people avoid a backslide in their reading abilities, the program provides children, teens and adults with age-appropriate reading logs to complete throughout the summer.
Upon sign-up, participants receive a free book, and those who complete their log earn another book and a prize.
The library has given out over 600 books this summer, many of which were donated.
“We have families that have been coming in for years, but this year, maybe they’re bringing a friend, or they’ve told somebody about the summer reading program,” Hensley said. “We’ve done a lot of outreach in the last year to try to connect with the community to make sure that they know that we have lots of this going on at the library.”
As a part of the reading program, the library also has a calendar of events. Some are offered regularly, while others are centered around the summer’s theme.
Children's activities have ranged from dinosaur origami to a reptile encounter that drew a record-breaking 162 people.
Wednesday morning storytimes have also become so popular that the library now offers back-to-back sessions at 10:30 and 11 a.m. to handle the crowds.
While many events are tailored to children, the library also offers activities for older patrons. From line dancing on Friday afternoons, to monthly “lunch and learn” events, teenagers and adults can find a space of their own on the calendar.
“Having been involved since 2015, (the) library has just gotten better and better,” said Lamara Martin, a member of the Oglethorpe County Friends of the Library. “They are just so very creative and outgoing and … they’re very interested in helping the patron.”
Martin is one of the volunteers who has helped balance the demands of the summer season.
With only four staff members, the library relies on groups like Friends of the Library and the Maxeys Woman’s Club to fundraise, donate books and prizes, and help work events.
Volunteers logged 155 hours of work in June.
“Most of the people who are volunteers are doing it because they just love the library,” Martin said. “Most of them have always loved libraries, but our library, in particular, is just such a nice community. It is a wonderful little group of people.”
As patrons continue to fill both the library’s main and overflow lots, Hensley said an expanded parking lot is the facility’s most pressing need.
“We’ve just kind of parked people anywhere and everywhere we can,” Hensley said. “It’s something that we’re going to the county with this year, in hopes that it could be included in our budget for next year.”