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Summit County Library concludes its fall adult reading program

Janet Good, member of Friends of the Library, welcomes guests to the Downton Abbey Tea. The tea, which mixed refreshments with the popular British drama, was among the most popular events of the fall adult reading program.
Courtesy of Summit County Library |

If you go

What: The Kilted Man

When: 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22

Where: Frisco County Commons, 0037 County Road 1005, Frisco

Cost: Free

More information: Visit http://summitcountylibraries.org

The Summit County Library encouraged people to “Keep Calm and Read On” this fall and enjoy a variety of activities — from music to author presentations — to complement their reading.

This was the fourth year for the adult reading program, aimed at book enthusiasts ages 18 and older. While the library has done a multitude of programs aimed at younger readers, it soon became clear that adults wanted to share in the fun as well.

“We’ve had patrons who’ve asked about programs for adults here before, so we knew it was something that we should probably offer,” said Becky Astuto, a library technician at the Frisco branch.



The program is made possible by the Friends of the Library, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the library.

“This one’s the most successful yet,” said Janet Good, Silverthorne branch manager and Friends of the Library member, of this year’s fall program. “We’ve had more entries into the reading contest than ever before and people seem to be looking forward to it.”



In addition to encouraging more people to come into the library, the staff hoped that the program would introduce patrons to parts of the library they may not have already been familiar with.

“We want to be seen as part of the community, a place for the community to come and feel comfortable and meet some of their needs that aren’t somewhere else. To show them that the library’s here and still viable,” Astuto said.

The fall reading program kicked off at the end of October with a performance by the Irish band Gobs O’Phun. They played traditional Irish instruments, including the bodhran and two flat sticks called ‘the bones.’

“They were just excellent,” said Frisco resident and program participant Carol Rickauer. “They played for an hour and a half, nonstop, just wonderful English and Irish music.”

One of the aspects that the library focused on this year was drawing in local authors for the authors’ panel at the beginning of November. Mountain climber, photographer and author Dave Cooper also gave a presentation.

Frisco resident and professed library enthusiast Luke McKenna said he enjoyed all of the activities he attended.

“I really liked this one with the author’s panel,” he said. “You’ve got four different authors there in different genres and they’re talking about how they write and they talk about the process of creating, and the difficulties. It wasn’t just a sales pitch, it was like getting an inside look at your authors.”

Arguably one of the most popular activities was the Downton Abbey Tea, which paired tea, refreshments and costumes with the popular British television drama “Downton Abbey.”

“The tea was really way more than I expected,” Rickauer said. “They had all the English things — the cucumber sandwiches, the cheese and tomato sandwiches and the clotted cream — it was just wonderful.”

The final fall program activity is taking place Nov. 22 at the Frisco branch. Another musical performance, “The Kilted Man” features Matthew Gurnsey, a professional performer of Celtic music. Gurnsey performs with multiple traditional instruments, including the concertina, bodhran, bones and mandolin. A drawing for the program’s Grand Prize — a Kindle Paper-White e-reader — as well as several other prizes, will conclude the evening.

“It’s just a fun time,” said Rickauer of the fall program. She and McKenna encourage others to join in the fun. “It’s nice getting together with people who are also out there reading.”


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