​To protect Santa (and everybody else) from Covid and save Christmas, there will be no Breakfast with Santa this year. However, Santa has asked us to do a few things for him instead. Write a short note to Santa and list some of the things on your Christmas list or complete our Santa craft, and we'll give you a free book to keep for Christmas! Get them at the desk, do curbside pickup, or print them off our website. We'll display them in the Children's Library! Every child who turns something in will be entered into a drawing on December 18, and one lucky winner will get a $50 gift card!

Everything is kind of weird right now, but one thing remains reliable: the library is open. While programming may in a holding pattern at the moment, we're still getting lots of new books and movies in every month, and we have ongoing programs like Bookworm Buddies and Bibiliopoly to provide you with lots of motivation to read and cool prizes to win! Come in and take a look around for yourself or do your browsing online and check them out without ever leaving the comfort of your car with our curbside delivery option. And keep an eye out for updates on the return of Storytime and other in-person programs, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.

Summer Reading starts with our big kickoff party on Saturday, June 1st at 11:30! And from then on it's nothing but nonstop fun for the next 8 weeks. We will host kid-focused programs every Wednesday and there will be plenty of other programs throughout the summer that will appeal to kids and families. And did we mention that you can win prizes for reading? That's right, prizes will be given out every week and the more you read, the more chances you have to win. Don't miss out! Go to http://www.atchisonlibrary.org/summer-reading.html or feel free to come in and ask one of us for more information.

Did you know that there is a special prize given to the kid who reads the most minutes during our entire Summer Reading Program? That's right! All you have to is this: 
1. Read your 100 minutes and turn in your weekly reading slip so you can claim your weekly prize.
2. Then, if you plan to read more that week, ask us for some Bonus Super Reader slips. Keep track of how much you read and mark it down on the slips. (Each Bonus Super Reader slip has 60 minutes on it and you can have as many as you need.)
3. Turn in your slips as you go along all summer.
We'll tally everyone's minutes and award a special prize to whoever read the most at our Summer Reading Finale Party on July 29th at the Atchison Family YMCA/Cray Community Center.
We encourage every child in this competition, though it really doesn't matter if you win or lose. Every minute spent reading this summer is time well spent. However, if you're looking for a little extra motivation, here is the total minutes read by last year's winner:
                                                                                 4100!!!!!
Over 68 hours, nearly 3 full days! Now that's some serious reading! And it was a close race too, so let's see if someone can top that this year! Maybe even lots of you can. All you need are some good stories to really suck you in, and we've got lots of them to choose from.
Summer Reading officially begins on Saturday, June 2nd at 11:00 am, at our Summer Reading Kickoff Party. So come on down for a great time and browse our shelves for the right book to kickstart your summer!

​The Summer Reading Program is about to begin, and adults, teens, and children are encouraged to join us this summer in spreading the word that Libraries Rock! Log your reading time each week and turn it in to win great prizes. Attend the programs scheduled for all ages, like Teen Life Hack Testing, Adult Presentation Pieces of my Life, Children's Lego Contest and More! Those who participate 6 weeks or more get a ticket to the Finale Swim Party at the Atchison YMCA! Go to http://www.atchisonlibrary.org/summer-reading.html to learn more!

Join us for Storytime every Monday and Thursday morning at 10:30! We'll read stories, do some simple arts and crafts, and have as much fun as you can cram into 45 min to an hour. On tap for this week, we'll be reading stories that rhyme on Monday, October 23, and gearing up for Halloween on Thursday, October 26. Come check it out!

If you've been to Storytime lately, you already know how much fun The Book With No Pictures is to read. But if you haven't had the chance to experience it yourself yet, now is the time to hurry down to the library to check out or reserve a copy of the most popular book we've ever read at Storytime! It seems crazy, I know. How could a book without any pictures be that hilarious? How could a book that doesn't even contain a single doodle make everyone in the family laugh so much? Well... it's kind of hard to explain. You just have to read it and experience the craziness yourself. Fortunately, the Atchison Library has you covered! You just might want to avoid reading it at bedtime though. It might make you laugh so much that you won't be able to fall asleep!