Mentor Library lets loose the reptiles for Summer Reading Finale Party

Emma and Sophia pet the bearded dragon from Herps Alive, a rescue refuge for reptiles.

Mentor Public Library celebrated the conclusion of one of its biggest summers ever by inviting pythons, boas, tortoises, skinks and more to a party at its Read House.

More than 300 kids and adults met, touched, learned about and even held the rescued reptiles and amphibians from Keith Gisser’s Herps Alive during the library’s Summer Reading Finale Party on Thursday, Aug. 6.

Grant dons his cape during the Summer Reading Finale Party at Mentor Library.

This summer, Mentor Library celebrated all kinds of heroes including the literary, local and caped varieties. The library had special story times with teachers, firefighters and nurses, as well as programs dedicated to Captain America, Captain Underpants, Pete the Cat, Junie B. Jones and more.

More children than ever before—1,485, to be exact—signed up for Mentor Library’s summer reading program. And they read or were read to for 18,416 hours. (Also, a record high for the library.) And 608 kids earned library champion signs by reading or being read to at least 15 hours this summer.

“It's great knowing the kids in the area are reading over the summer,” said Kim Sidorick, the children’s services manager at Mentor Library. “Our goal is for kids to continue reading over the summer; and, you can see by the numbers, they are.”

Eleven kids help hold the python from Herps Alive at the Summer Reading Finale Party.

Additionally, more than 500 teens and adults sign up for summer reading at Mentor Library, and they read more than 3,200 books.

"We want to thank everyone who participated in our summer reading program this year,” said Amanda Densmore, the reference manager at Mentor Library. “We hope you read something that stimulated your curiosity or taught you something new, and we hope that you had as much fun as we did."

While summer reading may be finished, there are always more programs and events coming at Mentor Library. To see what’s happening next, visit the our website, www.mentorpl.org.

Sydnee becomes superhero Squidnee when she wears her mask.

For more photos from the Summer Reading Finale party, visit Mentor Library's Facebook page.