Wednesday morning some of the Elizabethton/Carter County Library’s youngest patrons gathered for the conclusion of a two-day celebration for the annual Summer Reading Program.
Tuesday’s event featured children in grades K-3 while Wednesday morning the attendees ranged from infants to pre-schoolers.
The theme for this year’s Summer Reading Program was “Read. Play. Grow.” The pre-schoolers spent the summer learning and reading about things that grow, while remembering to also take some time to play.
This year was the first year the library had a community garden and the Summer Reading Program for the youngsters included lots of lessons and activities about the garden. The children also got to take part in caring for the various vegetable plants.
“They actually helped to water the garden,” said Children’s Librarian Ashlee Williams with a laugh. “And boy did they water, and water and water it.”
Wednesday’s celebration began as all of the Summer Reading Program sessions for the pre-schoolers did — with a musical parade where the children marched and played a variety of musical instruments.

Following the parade, the children settled down and, in keeping with the theme of the program, Williams read them a story about the kinds of fruits and vegetables that can be found at a Farmer’s Market. The children took turns naming the different kinds of fruits and vegetables and sorting them by colors.
Then, the children received a special treat when they got to see the results of their hard work tending the garden.
Williams and library staff and volunteers had picked tomatoes and peppers from the library garden and then Jiggy Ray’s Downtown Pizzeria took the harvest and turned it into pizza sauce. Jiggy Ray’s made special pizzas for the celebration using the vegetables the children had helped to raise, Williams said.
After enjoying their special pizza, the children each received a free book and goody bag courtesy of the library. In addition to some items from the library, each bag also contained coupons and certificates from local businesses, Williams said.
Pizza Hut supplied coupons for free pizza, LoneStar donated a certificate for a free kids meal, Elizabethton’s Franklin Pool supplied certificates for a free admission to the pool, Hands-On Museum donated coupons granting $1 off a child’s admission, Captain D’s supplied coupons for a free kids meal, and retail bookstore chains Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble each donated certificates the children can redeem for a free book. Williams expressed her thanks to the local businesses for their support of the Summer Reading Program and for their generous gifts to the children.