By ELIZABETH TANKARD
Brown Library News

Summer is well under way, and it’s definitely a hot one. Take a break from the heat and pay us a visit at the library. Whether you’re swinging by for a Summer Reading Program event or perusing the shelves for your next beach read, the library is a cool retreat for any and all.

The Summer Reading Program is in full swing. We’ve had a wonderful turnout for our events so far, and we hope more and more of you will come out as it progresses. We’re already almost halfway through, but there are still some fun programs you can catch before the summer is out. They include the following:

• Rob Westcott, magician – July 22 at 11 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church fellowship hall.
• Children’s Summer Movies: “Madagascar” – July 27 at 2 p.m. at Brown Library.
• Dianne Hackworth, storyteller – July 29 at 11 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church fellowship hall.
• Children’s Summer Movies: “Surf’s Up” – Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. at Brown Library.
• N.C. Aquarium estuary program, grand finale – Aug. 5 at 11 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church fellowship hall.

Be sure to have your reading logs turned in by the final event. Special recognition will be presented to one girl and one boy who read the most books and one boy and one girl who read the most pages.

Our Teen Summer Reading Program seems to have been a big hit as well. We will be hosting a final event Aug. 5 at 4 p.m. at the library. If you’ve entered into the drawing, make sure you attend. We’ll be drawing names for prizes, and you can enjoy some tasty treats as well.

Also, as part of the Teen Summer Reading Program, we’ve had correlating displays in the young-adult section of the library. Be sure to stop by and view this month’s theme: Harry Potter. This month, the Harry Potter era finally drew to a close after more than a decade with the release of the final film. View our magical timeline, tracking the release of all the books and movies in the series, or find a cure for what we like to call “Post-Potter Depression.” If you’re feeling a little blue about the series being over, we have a few suggestions to try out. They may not replace Harry Potter in your heart, but maybe they’ll help fill the gap just a bit.

Brown Library is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mondays through Fridays; from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays; and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

Be sure to bookmark our blog on your computers, your resource for news and events happening at Brown Library: http://brownsbookshelf.blogspot.com. We’ll see you in August. And if you haven’t already done so, make sure you come by and get the smartest card you’ll ever have: a library card.

Elizabeth Tankard is a part-time library assistant at Brown Library.