June 23- August 21
Ages 0-18

Click on each calendar for a larger image

Get ready for Summer Reading at Baxter Memorial Library! This year, the Summer Reading Kits will be packed with activities including a tiny canvas you can take home, paint or decorate, and bring back to the library for display all summer!  We’ve also got lots of kid-centered programs each week, your choice of cute, die-cut sticker every time you check out books, a guess-how-many-trinkets jar, fun weekly scavenger hunts, awesome art and dance workshops, extra-special story times, an adopt a stuffy day, and tons of cool prizes you can enter to win for completing reading and writing challenges!  

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Summer Reading Packets

In addition to all sorts of fun activities (coloring and activity pages, scavenger hunts, make-your-own-comics, build-your-own-mini-‘zine, design-your-own-trading-cards), this year’s Summer Reading Packets feature hundreds of reading activities, and each one you complete earns you a ticket for our prize raffle! What sorts of prizes can you win? Well, we’ve got Lego, Dog Man games, Beyblades, a Squishmallow unicorn, an awesome dragon, a Tonka truck, a giftcard to the Norwich Bookstore, and more! Each packet also includes a tiny canvas for you to create your own itty-bitty colorful masterpiece that you can display at the library all summer long.

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Weekly Activities

Lego Builders Club
Mondays 3:30-4:30
Stop by Mondays to build the weekly Lego challenge – or not! Maybe you want to build your own thing – or work to build something collaboratively. Maybe you just love to sort the Legos by shape and color. Or, maybe you want to build from the challenge cards – a jungle exploration vehicle or a stealth submarine, or a reserve for reptiles. Hey, whatever works for you! No rules – just lots of Lego fun!

Practice Reading to Ms. Shana
Tuesdays 1:15-2:00
Practice your reading skills by reading to the librarian. Ms. Shana loves to be read to, and she’s the most non-judgmental and encouraging listener! The library won’t be open to the public, so even shy readers can come out of their shells in this joyful reading environment. Contact Ms. Shana at sharonbaxterlibrary@gmail.com for more information.

Crafternoon
Wednesdays 3:00-4:00
Join us for open craft time at the library. We’ll provide craft supplies including paints, markers, paper plates, beads, origami paper, ribbons, yarn, glue, scissors, pipe cleaners, and more. Come let your imagination inspire you to create whatever you choose!

Story Time and Play Group
Thursdays 10:30-11:00
Baxter’s weekly toddler/preschooler story time and play group takes place Thursdays at 10:30am.  Let your little one read stories with the librarian and explore the library before it opens to the public. Then, stick around for some play time! During the summer, each child attending Storytime can choose a brand new free book thanks to a Winnie Belle Learned Fund grant made possible by the Vermont Public Library Foundation!

Magic the Gathering
Thursdays 3:30-5pm
Thursdays are Magic the Gathering Day at Baxter! Gaming starts at 3:30. Don’t know how to play?  No problem!  Need a deck?  Borrow one of the library’s!  Get ready for some Magic-al summer fun! MTG meetups start June 19.

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Special Events

Art Workshop with Artistree
Monday, June 23, 1:30-2:30pm
Let’s kick off Summer Reading with a workshop from Artistree! Join us for a joyful burst of color in this special summer art workshop. Young artists will explore the magic of color and creativity as they learn how to paint their own beautiful rainbows. Led by Artistree instructor, Finnie, this hands-on session is perfect for children who love to paint, imagine, and express themselves through art.

Dance Workshop with Lucia
Tuesday, July 1, 4-5pm
Come attend a special creative movement workshop where dancers of all ages will use imagination and exploration to play with movement, dance, and each other. Open for all ages and abilities! Workshops in the past have been AMAZING! Lucia has a way of making each child feel welcome and excited to DANCE!

Lucia Gagliardone (she/her/hers) is a Vermont-born choreographer and dance artist, who deals with themes of healing and community, water, disintegration and wholeness, and various iterations of the self in her work. Lucia has premiered eleven original live and film dance works, which have been presented by The Living Room in Portland, Bowdoin College, The Hopkins Center for the Arts, Atlas Performing Arts Center, and more. She has performed in works by Reggie Wilson, Olga Aru, Katy Pyle of Ballez, Aretha Aoki, Vanessa Anspaugh, Gwyneth Jones, and as a principal dancer for Flock Dance Troupe under the artistic direction of Carol Langstaff.

Adopt a Stuffy Day
Saturday, July 12, 2-4pm at the church!
There are lots of stuffies looking for their forever homes, and at this adoption event you can choose a lonely stuffy to adopt and take home with you! Each stuffy has its own history and will come with an adoption certificate. We’ll read a story about pet adoption, write (or draw) a story about our new friend, make sure each one has a thorough vet check, and talk about ways we can help homeless animals. If you can, please bring a donation for the Humane Society. We’ll be holding this program at the church during the free music festival on the green!

Let’s Creat a Colorful World!
Wednesday, July 16, 3-4:30pm
Join Ms. Shana for a special Crafternoon! Using lots of fun crafty items, we’ll create a world of color! Bring your imagination, and get ready for some fun!

Art Workshop with Artistree
Thursday, July 31, 1:30-2:30pm
Make a splash with your creativity! In this fun, hands-on art workshop, kids will create 3D beach-themed paintingsinspired by sunny days, ocean waves, and summertime fun. Come paint and sculpt a perfect summer beach scene with Finnie from ArtisTree!

Storytree with Jools
Tuesday, August 5, 3:30pm
Jools Skeet will offer a fantabulous, interactive story adventure outside the library!  Please bring your own blanket. Have you ever wanted to teleport to another world? Solve a mystery? Dig for hidden treasure?  Well now is your chance!  Storytree will give you the opportunity to participate in an exciting interactive storytelling adventure.  Using the magic of our imagination and an array of enticing, colorful story bags that contain weird and wonderful objects, you will be part of a journey that could take you ANYWHERE!!  There will be a craft available to take home at the end of the event. 

Summer Reading Wrap-Up Party and Prize Drawing
Saturday, August 23, 2-4pm
Let’s celebrate the end of Summer Reading with a party!  The library will host a summer party with a games, music, snacks, snow cones, and our much-anticipated raffle drawing for Summer Reading prizes! (You don’t need to be present to win.)

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Makerspace

Baxter Memorial Library has a Makerspace filled with fun things to do. There are Keva planks, blank shrinky dinks, origami paper, foam pieces, various construction sets, a wooden geoboard, Makey Makey, Squishy Circuits, a coding mouse, and more!  The materials are available anytime during open hours, so stop by and build something today! (Psst – you might just have to help the librarian learn how to use some of this wonderful stuff!)  This project was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

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Themed Learning Kits for Checkout

What’s a themed learning kit, you ask?  Let’s say you want to go birdwatching.  You can check out the Birding Kit which contains binoculars, a field guide, a CD of birdsongs, and a few kids’ books about birds.  Or maybe you love to tell stories.  Check out the Storytelling Kit with two decks of story cards, a set of story dice, printouts of comic panels and story writing/drawing paper, and (of course) a few books on storytelling.  The learning kits are made possible by a grant from the American Library Association.

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Games for Checkout

We’ve also got LOTS of cool puzzles to check out!

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Museum & Park Passes

Maybe you want to check out one of Vermont’s cool museums or state parks. Baxter might just have the discounted or free pass you’re looking for! Passes have a one-week checkout.

VINS: $10 admissions, up to 4 people
Billings: Free admission up to 4 people
ECHO: $7 admissions, up to 4 people
American Precision Museum: Free up to 2 adults and 2 children
Birds of Vermont: One free admission with one paid admission
Vermont State Parks: Free day admission for carload of up to 8 people
Vermont Historic Sites: Free day admission for carload of up to 8 people