McKenzie Memorial Library Kicks Off Summer Reading Program

The McKenzie Memorial Library kicked off its 2026 summer reading program on Tuesday, May 26. The reading program, called “Unearth a Story,” is themed around archaeology and dinosaurs.

Tuesday’s event invited library patrons to venture upstairs for a “Fossil Fest,” during which they explored six stations: Jurassic Jargon, Dinos in Flight, Engineering Your Dinosaur, Dinosaur Bookmarks and Dino Doo Doo Detective.

Library Director Ceil Pomphrey guided patrons through the stations.

In Jurassic Jargon, attendees were challenged to decode words written in Braille and ASL. In Dinos in Flight, attendees could make and design paper airplanes. Then, attendees could make dinosaurs out of mini marshmallows and straws in the Engineering Your Dinosaur rotation. In Dinosaur Bookmarks, attendees colored dinosaur-themed bookmarks. Lastly, in Dino Doo Doo Detective, attendees dug through “dino doo doo” (chocolate pudding) to determine if a dinosaur was an herbivore or a carnivore.

McKenzie Memorial Library’s summer reading program continued Thursday, May 28, with “Digging for Information,” which highlighted the Tennessee Electronic Library, a free resource for Tennesseans found at tel4u.org and tntel.info. Some resources require a library card number, while others use a school name and a password. The password for elementary schools is “read.” The middle school password is “learn,” and high schoolers use “research.”

Saturday, the library hosted “Chalk Walk,” where children were invited to let their creativity flow on the sidewalk in front of the library for the public to see.

The program continues all-day Friday, June 5, with “Adopt-A-Dino.”

Other upcoming events include “Stone Age” at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 6; “Tales at Ten” at 10 a.m. Monday, June 8; “Blooming Poems” at 2 p.m. June 9; “Dapper Dinos” all day Thursday, June 11; “Minecraft Archaeology” all day Saturday, June 13; “Tales at Ten” at 10 a.m. Monday, June 15; “Triassic Tie-Dye” at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 18; “What in Tarnation?” at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 20; “Tales at Ten” at 10 a.m. Monday, June 22; “Unearthing the Magic!” at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 23; “Prehistoric Pals” at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 25; “Storybook Stroll” at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 27; and “Tales at Ten” at 10 a.m. Monday, June 29.