Lifelong Learning At Mentor Public Library: The Best Summer Ever in 25 Photos

Last week I said the Mentor Public Library had its best summer ever this year and then used a bunch of statistics as my evidence.

While numbers -- like how many people signed up for our summer reading programs and how much they read -- are important, they may not be the best way to make my point.

Instead, it might be more effective to remind you of all the fun we (and, hopefully, you too) had at the library this summer.

To do that, I'm breaking out every great-aunt and uncles weapon of choice: The Summer Slideshow!

So check out some of our favorite photos from this summer and feel free to tell us what programs you enjoyed most at the library.

Aaron Eichler and Kevin Xue prove their ninja expertise by crawling through our training course.

Altered Generation helps us kick off our Rock Roots concert series which featured several bands from in and around Mentor.

Andrea Zingale guarantees her victory in our teen Minute to Win It contest by balancing seven dice on a popsicle stick.

Annaliesse Horton comes prepared for our Fairy Garden Party.

Brandon Barton loads the catapult his team built during our Excavation Station program.

Jessica and Esther show off the dream catchers they made during the August meeting of our American Girl Book Club.

Eric Brown looks like a living Jackson Pollack canvas after our Holi celebration at the Read House.

Mentor-on-the-Lake Police Chief John Gielink checks out one of the Little Free Libraries that we set up in Mentor and Mentor-on-the-Lake.

Rebecca Rodriguez knocks Ping-Pong balls from their tees with only a water gun during our End of Summer Reading Carnival. (You can see more photos from the carnival here.)

Sasori of the Red Sand celebrates after winning the Ramen-eating contest at our Anime Club meeting. By the way, our next Anime Club meeting is this Saturday. We're making candy sushi.

Katrina Prunty sticks a needle into a doll of Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau during our Tales from Beyond program.

Ruby, a milk snake, curls around Rhea Sahoo like a necklace during a visit from Outback Ray and exotic animals.

The crowd fills the Lake Branch's lawn when the Sunset Country Band performs.

Teddy bear picnic? Teddy bear picnic.

Grady Horton and Jayden Dahlhofer give their best dinosaur roars.

A special thanks to John Antalovich and Boy Scout Troop 280 who built a pergola outside of our Headlands Branch this summer.

Angelina and Rosa Palumbo relax during our Spa Day for teens.

Craig VanDemark turns a rotary phone into a piece of art during our Junk Sculpture program.

Gabriel Wagner plays with his mom's balloon animal during one of our Fun Day Mondays.

The pros from Gander Mountain explain the proper technique for fishing from a kayak.

Evie Smith wears a Batman mask during our National Ice Cream Day celebration. It's difficult to be cooler than Ice Cream but Evie pulls it off.

Morgan reads to her sister, Bridget, and therapy dog, Kody, during our Paws to Read program. Paws to Read pairs shy readers with an eager canine audience so they get more comfortable reading in public.