Sep 4, 2013 By Casey Sirochman 3 min read

As summer comes to an end, so does the Summer Reading Club kid’s program at the Carnegie Free Library. Total pages read this summer by youth ages 1 to 12 (57 children total) was 75,212. Every child that logged pages read was a winner and received a bagful of prizes.

In addition, we awarded children that read the most in four different age categories and the overall winners, additional prizes. The overall winners for 2013 were: first place — Alyssa Johnson (11 years) reading 6,629 pages; second place — Gwen Coss (4 years) reading 5,621 pages; and third place — Hayley Whittaker (8years) reading 4,398 pages.

We would like to thank Private Industry Council, Rotary Club of Connellsville, Cellurale Garden Center, Bud Murphy’s, Dairy Queen, Greenwood Family Fun Center, Martin’s Food, Buy Local Network of Fayette County and Connellsville Dominos Pizza for helping make the Summer Reading Program successful!

Our fall preschool story hour will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays starting Sept. 11. Also, the library is hosting low-cost training workshops on Sept. 18 to Early Learning Practitioners in Fayette County through the Southwest Regional Key Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education Organization. The first will be “The Sweet Truth, The Real Facts of Health Snacking” from 2:15-4:15 p.m. followed by “Just Brushing: An Early Learning Professionals Guide to Pediatric Oral Health” from 4:45-7:45 p.m. To register, go online to www.pakeys.org, For more information, call Linda Pelesky at 412-255-1240, or send an email to lpelesky@ywcapgh.org.

The adult reading program will continue into the fall. The Groundbreaking Reads Book Club invites anyone age 18 and older to join us in the discussion of many topics. Participants may read any material about the topic for the club meeting. Please come at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, for the meeting. Additional dates will be given at this meeting. For more information about the book club, send an email to Shirley at BookClubJeanie@yahoo.com or call 724-640-3518.

This fall, the library will offer more health literacy events:

n Cancer Prevention Study 3 (CPS3) volunteer meeting from 6-7:30 p.m. Sept. 16. Volunteers are needed the day of the enrollment and to promote this study in the community. Call Natalie Obradovich at 724-834-9081, or send an email to Natalie.obradovich@cancer.org for more information or volunteering.

n Save the date for the CPS3 study on Nov. 6 and make an appointment by calling 1-888-604-5888, or go online to www.southwestpacps3.org.

n Parkinson’s Support Group meeting, 1:30 p.m., Sept. 27.

n Wellness Retreat, Saturday, Oct. 12 — More information to follow.

n Yoga with Cathy Kumor, 9-10:30 a.m. Tuesdays starting Oct. 1; 9-10:30 a.m. and 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays; and 10:15-11:45 a.m. Saturdays to benefit the friends of the library.

Remember the library as a place to connect to the community and meet others for relaxing, engaging and free and low-cost programs. Help save our free libraries in Fayette County. Like us on Facebook, check out our websites and utilize our services and programs.

Casey Sirochman is the director/head librarian at Carnegie Free Library. She can be reached at 299 S. Pittsburgh St., Connellsville, or by calling 724-628-1380.