FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Public Library hosted a kickoff party for its Summer Reading Challenge on Saturday, June 1 with free food and activities.

Hy-Vee served attendees a free lunch, and Udderly Epic Desserts gave free ice cream to children who signed up for the library’s summer reading program. Despite a slight drizzle that morning, children were able to enjoy outdoor fun thanks to a bouncy castle and bubbles. Inside, at least a dozen organizations set up booths in the library’s meeting room where they advertised their summer activities.

Youth Services Librarian Sara Martindale said 172 kids signed up for the Summer Reading Challenge that day, and that, as of Wednesday morning, kids had already logged 16,220 minutes of reading through the library’s Beanstack app.

“We use an app for the kids to track their reading, and it also gives me a running total so I know how many people are registered,” Martindale said. “For every hour the kids read, they get a badge on a necklace and a small prize off a prize card, plus a ticket into our raffle prizes.”

The last day to record minutes in the Summer Reading Challenge is Aug. 1, because the following day at 2 p.m. the library will host a drawing for raffle prizes. Martindale will also have chalk for kids to decorate the library’s sidewalk.

Fairfield Public Library Director Alecs Schmidt Mickunas said it was wonderful to see so much of the community turn out to show their support for literacy. Not only did the library register 172 readers that day, but about 500 people in all visited the library. Schmidt Mickunas said that’s a big number because, in a typical non-summer month, the library sees about 1,800 guests per week.

“The power of reading has such a positive impact on kids’ emotional and social development,” Schmidt Mickunas said. “It’s cool to see kids connecting, and friends getting together at the library. We’ve seen probably twice the number of people visiting the library every day for the last week. Even before our summer reading kickoff party, we were seeing a lot of families.”

Schmidt Mickunas said that the library has a summer intern working there for the next two months, a graduate from MIU’s art department named David Orme Johnson. He designed the banner on the front doors for the party, which he made from recycled materials. He’s also designing a hand-drawn map of the inside of the library to show where different materials are located.