STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The valley’s libraries will embark on a summer reading for adults on Saturday, May 28.
The 2022 Valley-Wide Adult Summer Reading program is themed “The Place We Live: Reading and Knowing Home.”
It encourages newcomers and longtime locals to explore the valley’s literary, cultural and natural history by reading a book by an Idaho or Wood River Valley author. You could, for instance, delve into Hailey author Julie Weston’s mystery novels set in the Wood River Valley, Stanley and Craters of the Moon, or check out Boise author Anthony Doerr, whose “All the Light we Cannot See” won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
“Summer Reading isn’t just for kids…we hope adults will enjoy the opportunity to learn something new, too!” said Kristin Marlar-Gearhart, Bellevue Public Library director.
The Adult Summer Reading will run from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend. In-person and online registration opens Saturday at The Community Library in Ketchum, Hailey Public Library and Bellevue Public library.
Participants will receive a passport available in English or Spanish. They will then have a page stamped at their home library for each book they read or each activity that they complete, such a watching a local parade or visiting a nearby nature preserve.
Participants will receive one ticket per page to enter in drawings for prizes. Two participants will be selected from each library to enjoy dinner at the historic Ernest and Mary Hemingway House next September.
Martha Williams, The Community Library’s Programs and Education director said she hoped that the program would help newcomers learn about the valley’s history and that it would help those who have lived here a long time learn something new.
“We want the Wood River Valley to be known as a place where everyone reads and learns together about our community and local environment,” added Kristin Fletcher, the Hailey Library’s programs and engagement manager. “It just made sense for all three libraries to work together to promote reading.”