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Summer Reading 2023

Summer Reading Program

Youth 0-18

We’re excited to introduce a new way of approaching our Summer Reading Program for kids. Does your child think of reading as homework or something they only do over the summer for a cheap plastic prize? Studies show that this external motivation actually stunts reading growth, even for great readers! We want to flip that script. We are designing programming that will help families make reading an integral and fun part of their daily lives. This is the kind of internal motivation that grows lifelong readers and engaged, curious kids! Every Monday night we’ll have a different event that will help make reading fun, get your children talking about reading, and give them ownership of their library. Can’t make it Monday night? No worries! The activities will be available throughout the week whenever you drop by. 


Summer Reading: Family Literacy Dinner 
Monday, Jun. 12, 6:30 p.m.
Family Event

Kick off Summer Reading with a FREE spaghetti dinner catered by Napoli’s! Bring the whole family and enjoy food, stories, and talk about books. Your youth librarian will speak briefly about the best strategies for growing lifelong readers while you eat your fill. Then create your own learning goals for this summer and decorate a reading log of your own design! 


Summer Reading: Cozy Reading Nooks
Monday, Jun. 19, 6:30 p.m.
Family Event

Could you read them in a nook?
Could you read them by a brook?
Could you read them here or there?
I bet you could read them anywhere!

Where do you read your books? Come to the library and create a cozy reading nook somewhere in the library. Will you make a blanket fort between the shelves? Under a table? Snuggle up on a couch with a drink and a stack of books? Or will you head outside under a tree? At home with the dog? Create the coziest, comfiest nook and take a picture of you reading in it. Send your photos to ask@burlingtonlibrary.org or post them on social media and tag us!


Summer Reading: Be an Illustrator with Jerry Moffitt from Do Art Productions!
Monday, Jul. 10 at 6:30 p.m.
Family Event

Join Jerry Moffitt from Do Art Productions comics team to learn all about illustrating books. He’ll talk about his creative process, how he approaches a book, and what comic publishing looks like behind the scenes. Then you’ll get to pick your favorite book in the library and create a new cover for it! We’ll attach that cover and keep it on the book for the whole summer! If you register ahead, we’ll have your book ready and waiting for you!


Summer Reading: Be an Author with Ana Michelle
Monday, Jul. 17 at 6:30 p.m.
Family Event

Join Ana Michelle, published author of Long Live the King, to learn all about illustrating books. She’ll talk about her writing process, how she approaches creating characters, and how to get published. Then create your own, magnificent book, fill it with your thoughts, stories, and illustrations. You can take it home, or leave it in our “My Books” library for others to read! 


Summer Reading: Kindness Bookmarks
Monday, Jun. 26, 6:30 p.m.
Family Event

Everyone needs a little more kindness. Did you know reading is one of the most effective ways of promoting empathy? Make it even better by creating kindness bookmarks and hiding them in books here at the library, at home, in Little Free Libraries around town, and at the new Burlington Library Outposts at local businesses including Kravings, Archives, The Coffee House on Chestnut and Pine, and Low Daily! Kindness rocks just got booked!


Summer Reading: Buddy Reading
Monday, Jul. 24 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jul. 25 from 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Jul. 26 from 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Friday, Jul. 28 from 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Family Event

Reading is better together. This week we’ll have extra therapy dogs to read to. Who else can you read to? A favorite stuffed animal? A younger sibling? A grandparent, neighbor, or friend? Come to the library to read with a therapy dog this week and take a picture of you reading with a buddy. Send them to ask@burlingtonlibrary.org or post them on social media and tag us!


Summer Reading: Book Hunt
Monday, Jul. 31, 6:30 p.m.
Family Event

How well do you know your library? Clues hidden throughout the library will lead you to a secret prize! Come Monday night to hunt in teams, or throughout the week to search on your own. 


Year Round Readers Festival!
Monday, Aug. 14 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Family Event

Because reading doesn’t end when Summer does, we will have a Year Round Readers Festival! There will be karaoke, a food truck, popcorn, carnival games, community booths, and more. The whole City will turn out to show just how important reading and learning is to our community! Eat, play games, win prizes, sing, dance, and….create your reading and learning goals for the fall! Thank you to our sponsors: United Way of Racine County and the Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism.

 

Holiday Closings

The regular hours of the Burlington Public Library are:

Monday – Thursday: 9am to 8pm
Friday: 9am to 6pm
Saturday: 9am to 4:30pm
Sunday: Noon to 4pm (closed on Sundays during the summer)

In addition, BPL is closed for the following holidays:

  • Saturday, December 31, 2022
  • Sunday, January 1, 2023
  • Sunday, April 9, 2023
  • Monday, May 29, 2023
  • Tuesday, July 4, 2023
  • Monday, September 4, 2023
  • Thursday, November 23, 2023
  • Sunday, December 24, 2023
  • Monday, December 25, 2023
  • Sunday, December 31, 2023
  • Monday, January 1, 2024

Check out Museum Passes!

The Museum Adventure Pass program provides free admission to unique cultural destinations throughout the Greater Chicago area to library card holders at over 140 public libraries, including the Burlington Public Library.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Check out a Museum Adventure Pass using your library card at your home library. Passes are issued at the Reference Desk. Libraries have a limited number of passes for each participating organization. Passes are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and can be reserved online or in person. We look forward to your library visit!
  2. One Museum Adventure pass may be checked out per family, per loan period. The loan period is seven days. Admission offers vary per museum. For some, two to four people may admitted free per pass. If admission is already free, another special discount will be available. Details can be found at http://www.museumadventure.org.
  3. Passes are limited to general admission. Each organization’s page at http://www.museumadventure.org gives specific dates when passes cannot be used, and other restrictions that may apply.
  4. Please bring a driver’s license or state ID with you when visiting a museum using an adventure pass, as well as the pass itself.

Participating museums and cultural institutions include:

For further information, please visit the Museum Adventure Pass program’s web site.

Burlington Library is Fine-Free !

Burlington Public Library Expands Fine-Free Program to All Burlington-Owned Items

Effective April 1, 2021, the Burlington Public Library will no longer assess fines for overdue items. In doing this, Burlington joins more than half of the libraries in Wisconsin who have eliminated fines for all users.

Will people still return the books if there are no fines?

Yes! Surveys and statistics from libraries around the state and the country show that people return library books not because they’ll be fined, but because they feel an obligation to do right by other users. However, fines do dissuade people from coming back.  They lack the funds to pay, feel stigmatized, or make the decision to rent or purchase digital items at low-cost rather than pay an eventual fine. We believe that libraries contribute to a strong community, and that barriers to access hinder that.

I didn’t mind paying my fines. I felt good about contributing to the library.

That is a common sentiment. The good news is, the library will still be happy to take your donation. The better news is that people on fixed or limited incomes can now also feel good about the library.

Doesn’t the Library need the fine revenue to operate?

Libraries aren’t financed primarily by fine revenue. In 2019, fine revenue was less than 1% of our total operating budget. And we don’t feel good where we have to make decisions about waiving or enforcing fines based on budgetary considerations, rather than the individual situation of the patron.

I accrued some fines a few years ago. Do I still have to pay those?

Probably not. We cleared old overdue fines on Burlington-owned items for our patrons. We want people to come and use their library more than we want them to pay for that VHS tape that slid under their car seat in 2012 and didn’t re-emerge until mid-2013.  (True story.)

If you’re not sure if you still have fines on your account, or if you do still have overdue fines and want to see if there’s a way that they can be cleared, please call the library.

Are there any caveats?

Why, yes there are!

  • Materials belonging to other libraries may still have overdue fines assessed.
  • All items that are damaged will still be charged for repair or replacement.
  • All items that are long overdue will be assumed lost, and a bill will be sent for replacement. If the patron returns the billed item, the bill will be removed.
  • Because of the ongoing costs associated with our wireless hotspots, they will still accrue overdue fines on a daily basis.

Hoopla – FREE On-Demand Digital Materials

Instantly borrow eBooks, audiobooks, comics, music, movies & TV – 24/7 and FREE on your phone or tablet using your library card. Six formats all in one app for a simple to use multimedia content experience! Your items return automatically and never garner late fees.

Website: hoopladigital.com

Content:

  • Movies
  • TV Shows
  • Music Albums
  • ebooks
  • Read Along ebooks – coming soon!
  • Audiobooks
  • Comic Books

Features:

  • Action View on comics
  • FULL album releases from the most popular artists
  • Apps available for AndroidiOS
  • Multiple playback speeds on audiobooks
  • More fonts, formatting options, themes, etc. on eBooks.
  • ALL content can be downloaded to enjoy offline and we now support downloading to an SD card.
  • Supported by Androidtv, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, Chromecast, Amazon Alexa
  • Chromecast (1st and 2nd generation) 

Don’t have a current Burlington Public Library card?  Sign up for a digital card now.