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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, Jul 22 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Tue, Jul 23 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Wed, Jul 24 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Thu, Jul 25 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Fri, Jul 26 10:00AM to 6:00PM
Sat, Jul 27 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Sun, Jul 28 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

Sat, Jul 27, 9:00am - 2:30pm
Teen Meeting Room
This event is full

Sat, Jul 27, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Children's Library Educators Lab,Children's Library Programming Room

Mon, Jul 29, 10:30am - 11:30am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Mon, Jul 29, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Auditorium

Rescheduled
Tue, Jul 30, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
New date Tuesday, August 20, 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Tue, Jul 30, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Tue, Jul 30, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Wed, Jul 31, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Jul 31, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Jul 31, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Thu, Aug 01, All day
Culture & AV

Thu, Aug 01, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Canceled
Thu, Aug 01, 1:00pm - 7:00pm

Thu, Aug 01, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Computer Lab 1

Thu, Aug 01, 6:15pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium

Sat, Aug 03, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Auditorium

Mon, Aug 05, 10:30am - 11:30am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Mon, Aug 05, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Auditorium

Mon, Aug 05, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
TechZone

Tue, Aug 06, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Computer Lab 1
This event is full

Rescheduled
Tue, Aug 06, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
New date Tuesday, August 27, 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Tue, Aug 06, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
TechZone

Tue, Aug 06, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Wed, Aug 07, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Aug 07, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Aug 07, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Computer Lab 1

Wed, Aug 07, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Thu, Aug 08, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Thu, Aug 08, 11:30am - 1:00pm
Meeting Room 1

Thu, Aug 08, 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Quiet Study Room 1

Canceled
Thu, Aug 08, 1:00pm - 7:00pm

Thu, Aug 08, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
TechZone

Thu, Aug 08, 6:15pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium

Thu, Aug 08, 8:00pm - 9:00pm

Sat, Aug 10, 10:00am - 4:00pm

Mon, Aug 12, 10:30am - 11:30am
Children's Library Programming Room

Mon, Aug 12, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Auditorium

Tue, Aug 13, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Computer Lab 1
This event is full

Tue, Aug 13, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Tue, Aug 13, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Wed, Aug 14, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Aug 14, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Aug 14, 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Wed, Aug 14, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Thu, Aug 15, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Canceled
Thu, Aug 15, 1:00pm - 7:00pm

Thu, Aug 15, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Meeting Room 1,Meeting Room 2AB,Meeting Room 3,Atrium

Thu, Aug 15, 6:15pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium

Sat, Aug 17, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Children's Library Programming Room

Mon, Aug 19, 10:30am - 11:30am
Children's Library Programming Room

Mon, Aug 19, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Auditorium

Tue, Aug 20, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Computer Lab 1
This event is full

Tue, Aug 20, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Microbusiness Center

Wed, Aug 21, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Aug 21, 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Wed, Aug 21, 2:00pm - 2:30pm
Children's Library Programming Room
This event is full

Wed, Aug 21, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
TechZone

Wed, Aug 21, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Thu, Aug 22, 10:30am - 11:00am
Children's Library Programming Room

Thu, Aug 22, 11:30am - 1:00pm
Meeting Room 1

Canceled
Thu, Aug 22, 1:00pm - 7:00pm

Thu, Aug 22, 6:15pm - 8:00pm
Auditorium

Fri, Aug 23, 10:00am - 5:00pm
Children's Library Programming Room

Fri, Aug 23, 12:15pm - 3:15pm

Sat, Aug 24, 10:00am - 5:00pm
Children's Library Programming Room

Mon, Aug 26, 10:30am - 11:30am
Children's Library Programming Room