Thank you to the 555 people who celebrated the Summer Reading Club kickoff on June 13.

We had a great time meeting everyone, creating sand art dinosaurs, eating dino poo snacks, and interacting with the Dinosaurs Rock program.

The challenge continues until Aug. 8 — there’s still plenty of time to join in!

Sign-up on the Beanstack app or inside the Parkland Community Library.

“Unearth a Story” and unlock the magic of reading!

Everyone, regardless of age, can join.

Enjoy free swag and prizes just for taking part!

​​​​Joining the Summer Reading Club keeps your brain from melting in the summer heat, tricks you into learning while having fun, and showers you with fabulous prizes (well, at least totebags and trinkets).

Here are the top ten reasons to join the Summer Reading Club:

·Prevent the “summer slide”: Not the fun kind with water and screaming, but the sneaky one where your brain forgets things. Read regularly to keep those academic muscles flexing!

·Develop lifelong habits: Read daily so you can impress people at parties with random book facts all year long.

·Earn exciting rewards: Track your reading, and you might just win fame, glory, and a pile of prizes (OK, mostly trinkets, but still!).

·Reduce screen time: Give your thumbs a break from scrolling and let your eyes enjoy a page-turning adventure instead.

·Grow empathy: Discuss wild stories, meet quirky characters, and finally understand why your sibling insists dragons are real.

·Support reluctant readers: Group events and interactive activities make reading less scary — even for those who think books bite.

·Strengthen academic skills: Reading boosts your vocabulary, comprehension, spelling, grammar, and ability to win at Scrabble.

·Spark imagination: Reading is the cheapest way to travel to magical lands without leaving your couch.

·Build social connections: Meet fellow bookworms, join lively debates over which fictional character would survive a zombie apocalypse, and attend library events.

·Bond as a family: Share stories together and compete to see who can do the best pirate voice during read-aloud time.

Meet library staff in the community: Vistas Park, 7 to 9 p.m. July 17 for the South Whitehall Movie and Grange Park, 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 4 for Upper Macungie National Night Out.

Join us for a dino-mite good time at the library this summer!

Maryellen Kanarr is the executive director of the Parkland Community Library, South Whitehall.