Tuesday marked the end of the Summer Reading Program with the first day of a two-day celebration.

Around 450 children took part in the annual program hosted by the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library according to Children’s Librarian Ashlee Williams.

Each year, the library concludes the program with a two-day celebration. On Tuesday, young readers had the opportunity to play a variety of fun carnival-style games inside the library’s meeting room. On Wednesday, the children will get to see the fruits of their labor, so to speak, as Jiggy Ray’s will be providing pizza made with ingredients harvested from the community garden at the library.

The children also received a free book and a grab bag full of gifts and coupons provided by the library and several sponsors from the community. Among the treats the children received were pencils, coupons to local eateries, and special glasses to view the solar eclipse next month provided by the National Center For Interactive Learning’s Space Science Institute.

Among this year’s sponsors for the event are Jiggy Ray’s, Lowe’s Home Improvements, Big John’s Closeouts, East Tennessee Ballet Academy, Applebee’s, Bojangles, Barnes & Noble, Carter County Drug Prevention Coalition, and the City of Elizabethton’s Franklin Pool.

Williams said support from community members and businesses has always been tremendous for the Summer Reading Program. “Anytime we are doing things for the kids or involving literacy the community is really quick to partner with us and get involved,” Williams said. “We really have some of the best community agencies, I think.”

Williams also thanked the Roan Mountain Work Camp annex of Northeast Correctional Complex for providing inmate labor to construct a variety of items used by the library during the Summer Reading Program.

For more information on the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library or its programs, contact them at 423-547-6360 or check out their Facebook page for announcements.