First of all, I would be remiss if I did not mention that Summer Challenge is BACK!  From now until August 13, every hour you read (or listen to someone else read!) can help you win prizes from the Library. Read 10 hours and win a “Choose Your Own” prize certificate, with free or discounted admission to area attractions like Wave Country, the Adventure Science Center, Cheekwood, and more. Complete bonus challenges-like attending library programs or creating works of art-and win more entries into weekly branch library prize drawings. For more information, check out the Summer Challenge website, or ask your librarian.  

The Library also has lots of events and classes scheduled this summer. Summer is a great time to try something new! Check out a story time at your local branch, or at any of our 21 locations across Davidson County. Now that the Edmondson Pike Branch Library has reopened after its renovation (it looks great, by the way), check out The Clubhouse, a storytime especially for kids in grades K-4. We have evening story times at the Bellevue, Hermitage, Green Hills, and Bordeaux branches, and Saturday story times at Southeast and Bellevue. There are also themed story times, like Hora de cuentos, a Spanish language story time, and Gold Medal Story Time, a story time all about the Olympics (coming Summer 2016!), both at the Southeast branch.

If you are the parent of a young child and want to incorporate more literacy practices into your daily life, check out Bringing Books to Life!’s Loving and Learning Family Literacy workshops! This summer we will visit the East, Southeast, Madison, and Bellevue branches. Ask the Children’s Librarian at each location for more information. See where and when we will be and below:

• East Branch.  Saturday, June 11th at 11:00 AM
• Southeast: Thursday, June 23 at 10:30 AM; Tuesday, July 19 at 10:30 AM; Wednesday, July 27 at 10:30 AM
• Madison: Friday, June 24 at 10:30 AM
• Bellevue: Tuesday, June 21 at 10:30 AM; Thursday, July 14 at 6 PM; Tuesday, July 26 at 10:30 AM

Calendars, dates and times can change, so check the branch links above to confirm as the dates get closer.

If you are a teenager, or the parent of one, we’ve got something for you as well. Through Studio NPL, teens have the opportunity to try their hand at awesome stuff like audio production, computer coding, photography, creative writing and storytelling, graphic design, 3-D printing, video and film production, and more. What do you want to explore? Let the mentors at Studio NPL help you! Studio NPL programs are located at the Main Library, as well as the Bellevue, Madison, Southeast, East, and Edmondson Pike branches.

And grownups, we have plenty for you to do at the Library! We have art and crafting classes, book clubs, classic movie screenings, yoga classes, meditation, seed and planting seminars, and even Scrabble and Chess clubs! The Library also offers Adult Education services and classes in Financial Literacy, GED, and technology basics. Don’t let the kids have all the fun and do all the learning! NPL is all about lifelong learning, and that of course includes the adult set.  

If you want to know what’s going on at Nashville Public Library, be sure to visit our online calendar. Also, talk to your local librarian. They may have a printed branch calendar available. We are here to answer your questions and serve you during the dog days of summer. School’s out for summer; it’s time to go to the library!