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16th Annual Family Reading Festival

Celebrating the Week of the Young Child

2023-04-22 10:00:00 2023-04-22 15:00:00 America/New_York 16th Annual Family Reading Festival Fun for the entire family! Hands-on activities, free books, balloon twisting, Outback Ray, and of course, musician Jim Gill! Performers are sponsored by the Lucy & Emily Beasley Charitable Trust. Main Library -

Saturday, April 22
10:00am - 3:00pm

Add to Calendar 2023-04-22 10:00:00 2023-04-22 15:00:00 America/New_York 16th Annual Family Reading Festival Fun for the entire family! Hands-on activities, free books, balloon twisting, Outback Ray, and of course, musician Jim Gill! Performers are sponsored by the Lucy & Emily Beasley Charitable Trust. Main Library -

Fun for the entire family! Hands-on activities, free books, balloon twisting, Outback Ray, and of course, musician Jim Gill! Performers are sponsored by the Lucy & Emily Beasley Charitable Trust.

Get ready to sing, clap, dance and spin along during this visit by award-winning musician and author Jim Gill.

Jim Gill’s distinctive music play creates the spirit of a family room in the concert hall and is an invitation to children, parents and grandparents to sing and play together!

Jim Gill is a musician and author with unique credentials among children's artists. Jim is a child development specialist, completing his graduate studies in child development at the Erikson Institute of Chicago with a special emphasis on the study of play. For this reason, each of Jim's recordings and books is created as an opportunity for playful interactions between a child and a caring adult. Anyone who has experienced one of Jim's family concerts knows that rather than performing for the children and parents, Jim leads them to sing and play together.

Jim has released ten award-winning CDs of music play for young children that are favorites in family rooms, classrooms and playrooms. Jim is also the author of two children's books, "A Soup Opera" and "May There Always Be Sunshine."

Performers are sponsored by the Lucy & Emily Beasley Charitable Trust.

10:45 am - He's Back! Musician Jim Gill's Sing-a-thon of Celebrated Songs

11:45 am - Outback Ray and his amazing animal friends. See captive-born exotic animals up close and personal!

1:00 pm - Jim Gill - afternoon matinee performance

Local community organizations will share hands-on activities and information about services for families.

Each child in attendance will take home a free book sponsored in part by Children & Books.



Week of the Young Child: Join us for a fun-filled week, April 17-21, celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers, families, and communities. Visit our online calendar to discover more events and activities encouraging movement and healthy lifestyles through music, food, and art.

Main Library

Phone: 330.643.9000
Branch manager
Michael Bianchi

Hours
Mon, Dec 04 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Tue, Dec 05 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Wed, Dec 06 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Thu, Dec 07 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Fri, Dec 08 10:00AM to 6:00PM
Sat, Dec 09 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Sun, Dec 10 1:00PM to 5:00PM

About the branch

Main Library, located in the heart of downtown Akron, combines compelling public space with meaningful and relevant public library services for all members of our community. Since opening in 2004, the downtown library welcomes more than one million visitors each year.

Subject divisions include: Business, Government & Science, Culture & AV, Magazines & Newspapers, Special Collections (local history & genealogy), TechZone@Main, Teen, and a 12,000 square feet Children's Library.

Special services available at Main Library include: a Patent & Trademark Resource Center; U.S. Passport and Notary services; a Microbusiness Center; a Maker Space; a resource lab for early childhood educators; and regularly scheduled computer training classes. Also available at Main Library are more than 125 public access computers, color photocopiers/printers, laminating, scanning, faxing, and free Wi-Fi.

Specialized spaces include a 425-seat auditorium, public meeting rooms, and a used bookstore. An interior glass block walkway leads to a 600-space parking garage owned by the City of Akron. An outdoor amphitheater and landscaped park complete the complex.

Upcoming Events

Wed, Dec 06, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
Registration is now closed

Wed, Dec 06, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Registration is now closed

Wed, Dec 06, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room
Registration is now closed

Thu, Dec 07, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Thu, Dec 07, 11:30am - 12:30pm
Registration is now closed

Thu, Dec 07, 1:00pm - 7:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Thu, Dec 07, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
TechZone
This event is full

Thu, Dec 07, 3:00pm - 4:45pm
Teen Meeting Room

Thu, Dec 07, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium

Sat, Dec 09, 10:00am - 3:00pm
Children's Library RECE Lab,Teen Meeting Room

Sat, Dec 09, 10:10am - 3:30pm
TechZone

Sat, Dec 09, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Children's Library Programming Room

Sat, Dec 09, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Auditorium

Sun, Dec 10, 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Auditorium

Mon, Dec 11, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Wed, Dec 13, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Dec 13, 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Wed, Dec 13, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Dec 13, 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Wed, Dec 13, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
TechZone
This event is full

Thu, Dec 14, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Thu, Dec 14, 1:00pm - 7:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Thu, Dec 14, 3:00pm - 4:45pm
Teen Meeting Room

Thu, Dec 14, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium

Sun, Dec 17, 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Auditorium

Mon, Dec 18, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Tue, Dec 19, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Meeting Room 2AB

Wed, Dec 20, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Dec 20, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Dec 20, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Teen Meeting Room

Thu, Dec 21, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Thu, Dec 21, 1:00pm - 7:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Thu, Dec 21, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium

Wed, Dec 27, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Dec 27, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room

Thu, Dec 28, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Thu, Dec 28, 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Quiet Study Room 1

Thu, Dec 28, 1:00pm - 7:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Thu, Dec 28, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium

Tue, Jan 02, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Registration opens Tuesday, December 12 2023 at 12:00am

Wed, Jan 03, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Jan 03, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Registration opens Tuesday, December 12 2023 at 12:00am

Wed, Jan 03, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Thu, Jan 04, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Thu, Jan 04, 1:00pm - 7:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Thu, Jan 04, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Registration opens Tuesday, December 12 2023 at 12:00am

Thu, Jan 04, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium