by Kelly McCabe, Youth Services Coordinator
The Summer Reading Program in Albuquerque takes place across all 19 branches of The Public Library Albuquerque-Bernalillo County and this summer had programming for children, tween, teens, and adults as well as family or multigenerational programs. Following the national Color Our World theme, programs incorporated find and performing arts, as well as special performers, movie screenings and STEAM programs. In total, the system offered over 350 special programs as part of the 2025 Summer Reading Program, with over 14,000 patrons registered. Deborah Hassi, Senior Youth Librarian, oversees the coordination of events across the system and patrons are encouraged to visit not just their local branch, but seek out different branches across the city. This summer’s Branch Visit BINGO game offered patrons raffle entries for each completed BINGO.
On the day of our Summer Reading visit, we stopped first at the downtown Main Library where we were treated to a full tour, including the impressive Genealogy Floor. The lower level Youth Floor looks out onto a beautiful outdoor patio garden and provides ample room for reading, browsing and events. A 3D Pen Creations program for Tweens was on the day’s agenda and we witnessed excited patrons testing out the equipment and sharing their creations.
Later that day we visited the Juan Tabo branch across town for a special all-ages performance by Mike Schneider, aka Pint-Sized Polka! Pint-Sized Polka is a frequent and popular visitor to New Mexico during Summer Reading programs – mixing music, trivia, dad jokes, and interactive fun for audiences of all ages. Juan Tabo was also decked out for Summer Reading with colorful display and decorations. One of the most unique marketing tools I’ve even seen was also on display: Small stand-up cutouts of their scheduled performers as well as samples of their upcoming programs. This was an amazing visual way to build interest and participating in their programming.
The Public Library Albuquerque-Bernalillo County continues to provide abundant and varied programs for patrons of all ages – in the summer, and all throughout the year.