Lindsay McDermott is a local reptile enthusiast who has a passion for sharing reptiles/invertebrates with children and families. Today she will bring several of her various lizards, snakes, arachnids and more to the library to get up close and...
Summer Reading Program
Color our world this summer
May 27 - August 9, 2025
Stay busy this summer reading and attending events!
Available to readers of all ages and abilities, babies through adults. Participants will receive a gamecard to track their summer reading goals.
Prizes available starting Monday, June 9, 2025.
If you have time for a quick question, let us know how did you hear about the summer reading program?
Resources
- Watch past programs on The Library Channel
- Learn how to log books with Beanstack's mobile app
Sponsors
A big thank you to the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation for sponsoring the prizes!
Come read with us!
Upcoming Events
All library patrons, regardless of age or neurodiversity can participate in our Summer Reading Programs. We will be happy to customize reading programs and activities to meet the individual needs of our patrons. Please contact Angela Pilkington for more information.
Upcoming events
Thursday, June 26, 2025 - 1:00pm
Meeting Room A, Meeting Room B, Meeting Room C
Thursday, June 26, 2025 - 4:00pm
Meeting Room A, Meeting Room B, Meeting Room C
Are you a fan of Squishmallows, the plush toy that's loved the world over for being super soft, huggable, round, and adorable? Join us to make a piece of fan art celebrating Squishmallows at our painting party! Upon arrival, select from one of...
Thursday, June 26, 2025 - 6:00pm
Digital Media Lab
Do you knit, crochet, spin, punch needle, embroider or do some other fiber arts activity? Bring your current work in progress and join us the last Thursday of each month for an evening of conversation and group crafting. Whether you're...
Friday, June 27, 2025 - 1:00pm
Teen Center
Charlotte Hilker will be leading a philosophy class aimed at increasing cognitive ability, enhancing social skills and supporting emotional well-being. Oh, and it’ll be really fun! This is a series, but you're welcome to attend one or all...
Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 10:00am
Other
As part of the "Color Our World" Summer Reading Program, the UI Stanley Museum of Art will be hosting a special version of their Blue Tour just for Adult Summer Reading Program participants. Surveys have shown that blue is the world's favorite...
Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 12:30pm
Digital Media Lab
For this 4-part series of workshops, we will explore tabletop game design! These are no-experience-required workshops that introduce attendees to making games with cards, dice, tokens, boards, or in the mind with plenty of rules! Part 3: Game boards...
Monday, June 30, 2025 - 1:00pm
Meeting Room A
Every Monday in the summer we will be hosting games and activities! Join us today to test your Disney knowledge!
Monday, June 30, 2025 - 6:30pm
Digital Media Lab
Bring in a couple of your paperback books with misleading or unpleasant cover designs, and we'll create custom book jackets! After measuring your book, we'll use Canva to make a template you can fill with their clip art, background images you find...
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - 1:00pm
Meeting Room A, Meeting Room B, Meeting Room C
Elementary-age kids are invited to join us each Tuesday at 1:00 to learn a little bit about a fun skill or hobby that maybe they haven’t tried before! We have experts from the community here to teach you the basics! Mark Capron, recent inductee into...
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - 1:00pm
Teen Center
All supplies will be provided to create a firework painting just in time for Independence Day.
Thursday, June 26, 2025 - 1:00pm
Meeting Room A, Meeting Room B, Meeting Room C
Lindsay McDermott is a local reptile enthusiast who has a passion for sharing reptiles/invertebrates with children and families. Today she will bring several of her various lizards, snakes, arachnids and more to the library to get up close and...
Thursday, June 26, 2025 - 4:00pm
Meeting Room A, Meeting Room B, Meeting Room C
Are you a fan of Squishmallows, the plush toy that's loved the world over for being super soft, huggable, round, and adorable? Join us to make a piece of fan art celebrating Squishmallows at our painting party! Upon arrival, select from one of...
Thursday, June 26, 2025 - 6:00pm
Digital Media Lab
Do you knit, crochet, spin, punch needle, embroider or do some other fiber arts activity? Bring your current work in progress and join us the last Thursday of each month for an evening of conversation and group crafting. Whether you're...
Friday, June 27, 2025 - 1:00pm
Teen Center
Charlotte Hilker will be leading a philosophy class aimed at increasing cognitive ability, enhancing social skills and supporting emotional well-being. Oh, and it’ll be really fun! This is a series, but you're welcome to attend one or all...
Saturday, June 28, 2025 - 10:00am
Other
As part of the "Color Our World" Summer Reading Program, the UI Stanley Museum of Art will be hosting a special version of their Blue Tour just for Adult Summer Reading Program participants. Surveys have shown that blue is the world's favorite...
Sunday, June 29, 2025 - 12:30pm
Digital Media Lab
For this 4-part series of workshops, we will explore tabletop game design! These are no-experience-required workshops that introduce attendees to making games with cards, dice, tokens, boards, or in the mind with plenty of rules! Part 3: Game boards...
Monday, June 30, 2025 - 1:00pm
Meeting Room A
Every Monday in the summer we will be hosting games and activities! Join us today to test your Disney knowledge!
Monday, June 30, 2025 - 6:30pm
Digital Media Lab
Bring in a couple of your paperback books with misleading or unpleasant cover designs, and we'll create custom book jackets! After measuring your book, we'll use Canva to make a template you can fill with their clip art, background images you find...
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - 1:00pm
Meeting Room A, Meeting Room B, Meeting Room C
Elementary-age kids are invited to join us each Tuesday at 1:00 to learn a little bit about a fun skill or hobby that maybe they haven’t tried before! We have experts from the community here to teach you the basics! Mark Capron, recent inductee into...
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 - 1:00pm
Teen Center
All supplies will be provided to create a firework painting just in time for Independence Day.
There are no upcoming events.
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Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 1:00pm
Teen Center
YES interns through the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County will put on a reptile demonstration using knowledge they've learned from their time at Johnson County Conservation.
Friday, July 25, 2025 - 1:00pm
Teen Center
Charlotte Hilker will be leading a philosophy class aimed at increasing cognitive ability, enhancing social skills and supporting emotional well-being. Oh, and it’ll be really fun! This is a series, but you're welcome to attend one or all...
Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - 2:30pm
Meeting Room A, Meeting Room B, Meeting Room C
Create your own unique, colorful bouquet of local blooms when Kara Krapfl of Lovely Bunches Farm teaches us the thoughtful, meditative art of flower arranging. All Abilities Club programs are designed for those who are neurodivergent, or who...
Thursday, July 31, 2025 - 6:00pm
Digital Media Lab
Do you knit, crochet, spin, punch needle, embroider or do some other fiber arts activity? Bring your current work in progress and join us the last Thursday of each month for an evening of conversation and group crafting. Whether you're...
Monday, August 4, 2025 - 6:30pm
Digital Media Lab
The Cricut's precision cutting is a natural for making stencils. Many materials could be cut for different painting techniques: specialized Cricut stencil material, transparency plastic, cardstock, contact paper, or removable vinyl. In this...
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 - 2:30pm
Meeting Room A, Meeting Room B, Meeting Room C
We’ll start with a dance party, including following along to “Just Dance” choreography on the big screen; then shift gears way down with some relaxing, sensory craft stations, including play-doh, coloring, and scratch art. All Abilities Club...
Saturday, August 9, 2025 - 1:00pm
Meeting Room A
Shannon Downey (aka Badass Cross Stitch and author of Let's Move the Needle: an activism handbook for artists, crafters, creatives, and makers) will join us via Zoom on the big screen to share everything we need to know to start stitching staggering...
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There are no upcoming events.
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There are no upcoming events.
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