The 2023 Summer Reading attendance at the presentations, story times, and activities was 785 children and adults. In addition, the Miami Shores Village Camp and the Scholastic Book Fair programs brought in attendance. In all during the summer, the Library offered a total of 20 youth programs with 1,228 people attending.

My favorite library memories as a Children’s Librarian interacting with the community are when children come to the Library and ask me what they should read.  I love asking them lots of questions about what they like, what books they have read in the past and discussing different possibilities in terms of genre. It is like solving a mystery and getting to know someone at the same time when we find the right book.  Being a Children’s Librarian is a wonderfully fulfilling career!

Here & Now Program is one of the best examples on how we make the effort to select, support and present artists who collectively represent all forms of diversity and whose work is complex and often challenging. It is in this way that we are able to develop audiences which are representative inclusive, and to advance meaningful dialogues and deeper relationships between artists, the neighborhood, the city, and the broader community we serve.

My favorite memory was of an event that was sponsored by Brockway Memorial Library: the Our Libraries Rock series. I gave a demonstration during the last program of the series.  Children and adults attended. It was an hour demonstration, there was a 30 minute Power Point presentation, describing the history of Middle Eastern dance, instruments used to play the music, and the differences in style of music and costuming used in the different Middle Eastern countries. The presentation was followed by a dance demonstration, where members of the audience were taught basic moves.  I was told thar there were 60 people in attendance, and it was the best attended in the series. It was a very positive experience for me, and many of the participants gave very positive feedback.