The Kiowa County Public Library blasted through July with 67 registered summer reading participants, which was an eight-year record! We offered six sessions of fun, with a grand total of 293 attendees, as we explored the space theme, “A Universe of Stories.” The children got to learn about the solar system, constellations, rockets, galaxies, moon shapes, and many other things! 

The library also partnered with other local entities and residents this year for our program. First we joined forces with the CSU Extension Office. Tearle Lessenden, Extension Agent, and Krystal Eikenberg, Office Assistant, were able to arrange for 4-H members Case and Aspen Nelson to come present and launch off their model rockets. The children LOVED that! Then we shotoff bottle rockets.Everyone did a great job and were troopers being out in the hot sun. On the last day of summer reading Jacob and Lacie Kraft brought out one of the fire trucks for all of the children to explore. Then they got to walk through the PVC “car wash” that the fire department built. The children enjoyed the exploration and the cool down. We then headed back to the courthouse lawn to launch more bottle rockets, play games, and have a water balloon fight. After all the balloons were gone, and picked up, we headed inside to crowd into the library for the prize drawings. Carmen McPherson, Aubree Lane, and Lexi McCracken were our perfect attendance grand prize winners this year!

We have a lot of people to thank for helping make this another great success story!
Our Sponsors: Crow-Luther Culture Event Center, Town of Eads, Crow’s Stop & Shop, Kiowa HealthMart, Linda Trosper, and Mary Vasquez.  Thank you for all you provided to help make this extra special for the children!
Kiowa County Commissioners – Thank you for letting us use the meeting room. We certainly all can’t fit in the library for this program! (Which is wonderful!) 
Kiowa County Fire District: AJ McCracken, Jacob Kraft, and Lacie Kraft – Thank you for letting the children explore the fire truck, being so flexible, and for the nice cool down. 
Deputy Avery Snover – Thank you for coming in uniform, on your day off, to read to the children and help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11. The children always love to see you!
Nelson Family: Aspen, Case, Denise, and Sam – Thank you for taking the time to come present and launch your rockets. The children truly had a blast watching and learning!
CSU Extension Office: Tearle Lessenden and Krystal Eikenberg – Thank you for arranging a great session for the children, for letting us invade your office, and for always giving a helping hand!   
Our Group Helpers: Brenda Stoker, Kim Harris, RaLei Voss, Rhealie Rittgers, and Shaine Winder – Thank you for volunteering and being ready to help the leaders however they needed!
Our Group Leaders: Angie Winder, Audrey Johnson, and Deborah Gooden – A huge thank you for all the time and dedication you put into helping make this program a success. We truly wouldn’t be able to do it without you! 
Most importantly, THANK YOU to the children that participated and the parents that continues to bring them! We enjoy having Summer Reading everyJuly and we hope the children do too. This is a wonderful program that the library is happy to provide, and we are so excited to see it continue to grow. Thank you for another great year! 
From the grateful hearts of all KCPLD Staff