Level up at the Orange County Libraries this summer.
The 2025 Summer Reading Program, “Level Up at Your Library,” features a gaming theme. Children ages 18 months to rising 12th graders can join the program beginning this week. During each week of participation, readers will receive extra drawing incentives including treasure chest picks, books and entries toward the grand prize drawing. There will be one grand prize drawing for each age group at each of the three library branches at the conclusion of the program. The program is scheduled to end July 26.
As part of the summer reading program, there will be several craft events, visits by performers and storytimes.
School age crafts, for ages kindergarten through fifth grade, include sand art at Wilderness Library Monday, June 2, the Gordonsville Library June 5 and the Orange Library June 6. Pokemon Perler Beads will be held Monday, June 16 at the Wilderness Library and Friday, June 20 at both the Orange and Gordonsville libraries. Minecraft Mosaics will be held Monday, July 7 at the Wilderness Library, Thursday, July 10 at the Gordonsville Library and Friday, July 11 at the Orange Library. All school age craft events begin at 2 p.m.
Teen art sessions, for those in sixth through 12th grades, will also be held. Character creations will be Monday, June 9 at Wilderness, Thursday, June 12 at Gordonsville and Friday, June 13 at Orange. Pony beading will be Monday, June 23 at Wilderness, Thursday, June 26 at Gordonsville and Friday, June 27 at Orange. Bedazzled books will be Monday, July 14 at Wilderness, Thursday, July 17 at Gordonsville and Friday, July 18 at Orange. All teen art sessions begin at 2 p.m. and are limited to 20 participants, first come, first served.
Teens can also enjoy retro gaming featuring classic board games, card deck building and more Mondays, 4-5 p.m. at the Wilderness Library beginning June 9. There will be no programs June 16 and 30. Dungeons and Dragons for tweens and teens will be held Tuesdays, 4-5 p.m. at the Main Orange Library beginning June 3 with no programs June 17 or July 1 and Thursdays, 4-5 p.m. at the Gordonsville Library beginning June 5, no programs June 19 or July 3.
Galaxy Rolling Video Games, a mobile gaming truck, will be at the Wilderness Library Tuesday, June 10, 1-3 p.m., Gordonsville Wednesday June 11, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Orange Wednesday, June 11, 2-4 p.m.
Earthquest: Birds of Prey, a family performance, will be held at Locust Grove Middle School Tuesday, June 17, 2-4 p.m., at Gordon-Barbour Elementary School Wednesday, June 18, 1-2 p.m. and at Orange Elementary School Wednesday, June 18, 3:15-4:15 p.m.
The Mini Menagerie Petting Zoo will have its animal crew at the Wilderness Library Monday, June 23, 10 a.m. to noon, the Orange Library Tuesday, June 24, 10 a.m. to noon and the Gordonsville Library Wednesday, June 25, 10 a.m. to noon.
Magician Jonathan Austin will perform Tuesday, July 8, 3-4 p.m. at Locust Grove Middle School; Wednesday, July 9, 1-2 p.m. at Gordon-Barbour Elementary School and Wednesday, July 9, 3:15-4:15 p.m. at Orange Elementary School.
Fangs, Frogs and More will be presented Tuesday, July 15, 3-4 p.m. at Locust Grove Middle School; Wednesday, July 16, 1-2 p.m. at Gordon-Barbour Elementary School and Wednesday, July 16, 3:15-4:15 p.m. at Orange Elementary School.
Storytimes begin the week of June 3. Toddler Time, for ages 18 months to 3 years with a caregiver, is held Tuesdays at 11:15 a.m. at the Wilderness Library and Wednesdays at 9:45 a.m. at the Orange Library. Preschool Storytime for ages 3-5 with a caregiver is held at 11 a.m. Tuesdays at the Wilderness Library and 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays at the Orange Library. Family Storytime for ages 18 months to 5 years with a caregiver is held Thursdays at 10 a.m. at the Gordonsville Library. There will be no Family Storytime June 19 due to the holiday.
For more information, visit https://ocplva.org/services/summer-reading-2022/ or https://www.facebook.com/ocplva.
