The summer months — when kids are out of school, or there’s a little more leisure time in the schedule — provide a great opportunity to try something new. Most days, there’s an arts and crafts session scheduled at a Library branch near you.  

Plaza Branch has Masterpiece Mondays; on Tuesdays, Art Camp at North-East Branch and Craft Circle at Central Library; on Wednesdays, Crochet Club at the Southeast Branch; and on Thursdays, Westport Knitters at the Westport Branch — to name just a few.

Public demand often leads to new Library programming, which is also created based on Library staffers' skills or interests. 

Senior Library Assistant Clyde Miedema has worked for the Library for nearly three years. Miedema says when he first got to Bluford about a year ago, kids from Pride Haven, an LGBT youth shelter operated by SAVE Inc, would stop by.  

"And just a lot of the kids wearing the same thing," he says, "and oftentimes, with a lot of holes in them, or just like wear and tear."

In response, Miedema created Mending Circle for teens on Thursdays at the Bluford Branch, addressing a need and allowing him to push back on fast fashion trends.  

"If you have clothes that you need to fix, the only problem is they’ve got some wear and tear, you can breathe a little bit of new life into that," says Miedema. "So, I was kind of wanting to introduce other means of consumption to the kids."

Since the mending circle started, there’s been a growing interest in mending and sewing for various ages at Bluford. So, this summer, the branch is offering an all ages-program: a crafting circle on the second Tuesday of each month at 3:30 p.m.  

Supplies, such as sewing needles, threads, and scrap fabrics, will be provided. A sewing machine is also on site.  

"There’s just something about being so hands on with it," Miedema says. "And it's meditative. It's a calming thing, centering."

Assistant branch manager Mila Blair offers a program called A Stitch in Crime at the Waldo Branch for those who want to combine knitting with audiobooks. It meets on the second and fourth Friday of the month from 4 – 5:30 p.m. 

Blair was inspired by a similar program in Virginia called Deadly Knits. Instead of listening to true crime as that program does, she opted for cozy mysteries.   

"I picked cozy mysteries on purpose, because when you knit or do any kind of crafting, you do have to pay attention," she says. "So, you can't really listen to anything heavy. Mysteries are also very easy. You know, they’re lighthearted. There's not too much that might offend somebody." 

Blair launched the program in the fall. Patrons who are 18 and up bring their own knitting projects, such as crochet or cross stitch, and join in on the latest chapter of a cozy mystery.  

"I go down the list of cozy mysteries that are about crafters," she says. "And a lot of them have those really fun, punny titles: Knit One, Kill Two. Needled to Death. Murder Wears Mittens."

This summer, she’ll also bring back weekly "crafternoons" on Thursdays from 2 – 4 p.m., an opportunity for all ages to try arts and crafts, such as acrylic painting, bedazzling, button making, crocheting, knitting, mandala dot painting, and more. 

"If people want to join, there’s no pressure," Blair says. "Not a huge commitment. Just for fun." 

Just like it should be in the summer.