Sullivan County Public Library announces summer programs

BLOUNTVILLE – The end of the school year is quickly approaching, and libraries across the region are preparing to keep you entertained and your interests peaked with programs and book suggestions to keep you unearthing stories all summer long. The Sullivan County Public Library has five branches across the county, in Blountville and Bluff City, as well as Bloomingdale, Colonial Heights and Sullivan Gardens areas of Kingsport. They are ready to introduce you to gardening programs, dinosaurs, crafts, history and more with their programs for "Unearth a Story," the Summer Reading 2026 theme. Summer reading begins on June 1, but registration has already begun. All ages are encouraged to participate. Children will be rewarded with small prizes throughout the summer as they reach different levels of minutes read during the summer. Adults who track their reading minutes will be entered into drawing for door prizes, and it all concludes at the end of July with a party at Camp Placid for all participants who logged minutes reading. Some of the special programs the Sullivan County Public Library branches will have this summer include visits from the Hands On Regional Museum and fossil site. Warriors' Path State Park Ranger Marty Silver will visit the Blountville location, a ranger from Bays Mountain Park and Planetarium will visit the Colonial Heights location with one of the park's raptors, and ETSU's Department of Paleontology and Geology will host a dinosaur trivia night at the Blountville branch. There will also be a virtual author visit with the author of the popular novel "Dungeon Crawler, Carl" - Matt Dinniman. Colonial Heights will have a summer brunch club once a month, Bloomingdale will have adult crafts, Sullivan Gardens will have lemon painting and ecoprinting for adults, and Thomas Memorial will have a dinosaur sip n' paint and a murder mystery book club called Murder, They Read. For children, there will be a drama club for ages 6-14 at the Blountville branch, as well as a graphic novel creation workshop for ages 8-12 and a graphic novel book club. At the Colonial Heights branch, they'll have Fun in the Sun, where children will learn about the star we orbit and all the marvelous things it can do; they'll also have a Gold Star book club for ages 8-12. Thomas Memorial branch in Bluff City will have The American Girl experience, where they will start with the Felicity books and learn about colonial history through items featured in the books. Sullivan Gardens will host a fossil dig for children, once in June and again in July; they'll also have a LEGO club, and a "I Survived" book club, as well as a one-off tabletop roleplaying game for ages 8-18. Bloomingdale will continue their popular baby class, Baby Bookworms, and will also host a weekly time of games and crafts for elementary and middle school children. The Sullivan Gardens branch will get things started on Tuesday, May 26, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. with Dino-riffic games and snacks. Other branches follow on Saturday, May 30. Bloomingdale will have different dinosaur activity stations from 10:30 a.m. until noon; Blountville will pan for fossils with the help of Cooper's Gem Mine and other fun activities from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thomas Memorial in Bluff City will host a touch-a-truck event, along with craft and snacks from 3-5 p.m., and Colonial Heights will have outdoor games, water balloons and snacks from 4 to 6 p.m. Enjoy free fun with your local library all summer long. See all of the events and browse the catalog for the Sullivan County Public Library at www.scpltn.org.