Volume 167 | June 2025

On Monday, June 30, visit the CCLD website to sign up for Summer Reading Club! Summer is the perfect time for all ages to see what their local library has to offer! The 2025 Summer Reading slogan is "Color Our World"; we are planning many fun programs and events around this theme. There will be special events, reading challenges, fun activities, and more throughout the summer months from June 30 through August 9. Call or stop by your local library for specific program details.

June 5-7 - Steele Memorial Library will be closed, due to construction.

June 19 - All CCLD Libraries will be closed for Juneteenth.

Stop by the 2nd floor desk and borrow up to 3 packs of seeds (non GMO, so the plants produce nice seeds for saving); when you harvest your vegetables, herbs or flowers, save some seeds to bring back to the library for the next season! We are featuring easy-to-grow items that will yield impressive produce and seeds!

June is Pride Month! Join us for another epic night of Drag Queen Bingo on Friday, June 6 at 5:30pm. Please note, Steele will be closed to the public June 5, 6, and 7; we will only be open for this event on the evening of June 6 (a ticket will be required for entry). Show your library card or ID (this event is 18+) and get your ticket at the Steele circulation desk! Also in June will be Music Trivia Night on Wednesday, June 11 and Tea & Poetry Book Club on Friday, June 27. Register to make a Punch Needle Mug Rug on Tuesday, June 24, 6pm, with artist Jennifer Thomas.

Stop by for our regularly scheduled activities, including Tablet Talk, "So bad, it's good!" Movie Night, and Spice of the Month.

Our Tuesday evening zoom series of webinars continues strong into June! Genealogist Robert Cameron Weir joins us Tuesday, June 10, at 6pm for an overview of DNA for genealogists. Everything the family historian needs to know about X, Y, and everything in between!

On June 24, Katherine Willson teaches us how to do Reverse Genealogy. We hope you attend this engaging seminar!

Crochet wisteria vines (as seen on TikTok), with teen Kiarra, celebrate Pride Month at the Safe Zones Pride Dance on June 13, 6:30pm; don’t miss Teen After-Hours Laser Tag with SPOT on June 20, 6:30pm. Some events require registration (check our website calendar for details). Sign up for Summer Reading, starting June 30, at Steele Library, or online (via our website or the free Readsquared app). Read anything you want and earn prizes! Grand prizes for teens include: cookie decorating class with Magician Kitchen, an art or sewing class with artist Filomena Jack, or even win a large bookworm puppet and $50 Barnes & Noble gift card.

See the events calendar for more teen events.

June take-home: Sand Art begins June 2. Preschool Playtime: Mondays, 10am. Storytime: Fridays, 10am.

Summer Reading Club begins Monday, June 30! Sign up online or in-person.

Ages up to 12: Family Game Night, June 3, 5:30pm. Stuffed Animal Sleepover, June 10, 6pm. French Fry Taste Test (register), June 18, 3:30pm.

Ages 2-12: Ice Cream Painting (register) - June 11 & 12. Stuffed Animal Repair Clinic (register) – June 28, 1:30pm.

Grades K-6: LEGO Club, June 4 & 18, 3:30pm (walk-in).

Ages 8-12: Tween Theater (register) - June 4, 3:30pm (returns July 16), DIY Clay Bead Mobiles (register) - June 25, 3:30pm

The Makerspace is open Monday-Thursday, 9:30am to 6pm and Friday-Saturday, 1pm to 4:30pm.

Lots of things are going on for the month of June in the Makerspace – we're moving! The library will be closed June 5-7 to lay down the new Makespace floor. During the moving process, we hope to keep classes going but they might be relocated to a different space. Please refer to the website for updates during the construction.

We are starting Fine Art classes for adults this month! Every Tuesday in June, from 10am – 12pm, we will be teaching the fine art of pencil drawing. We have a great craft for dads on Father's Day! Please reserve your seat online. Sewing and craft classes are still set for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays (reserve your spots for these online via our Calendar of Events).

Big Flats Library is celebrating Dads this month! Stop by and complete the "My Dad is The Best Because..." form and enter the BBQ gift basket drawing for Dads.

The Big Flats Summer Reading Program Kick-off Registration Party will be on Tuesday, July 1 at 3:30pm. All ages are welcome to register for this six-week reading program. Read to earn weekly prizes and enter the grand prize drawing!

June 26, 2pm, Film for Adults: White Bird. (rated PG-13) The story of Julian's grandmother, Grandmère. Traveling back to her traumatic childhood, she recounts her time as a Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied France. Seeking shelter in a small village, she finds a family who takes her in and hides her away from the Nazi forces. What follows is a poignant tale about friendship and survival in the most difficult times.

June 11, 3:45pm - Gross Bug Slime Program: we love bugs! Celebrate National Insect Week by joining us for our second slime session at the library! Register on our website or call (607)562-3300 to save your spot.

Teen Creator Club crafting kit available each month for kids 11+: This month's offering is collection bookmarks: fillable clear bookmarks that can be used to display dried flowers, scraps of paper, stickers, or other flat, dry objects to keep close to you whenever you read. Pick one up at the desk! 

Teens are also welcome to stop by for Lego Club and crafts.

Stop by the craft table and make a "Father’s Day" card for someone special!

June 11, 3:45pm - Gross Bug Slime Program: we love bugs! Celebrate National Insect Week by joining us for our second slime session at the library! Register on our website or call (607)562-3300 to save your spot.

Pick up a take-home preschool & school-aged Spoon Butterfly.

In June for adults we have Gentle Movements and Yoga on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:30am (in the St. Matthew’s Community Room, across the street). June 9, 5:30pm we will play a letters and numbers game called Countdown. Tuesday, June 10, 11am-12pm the Therapy Dogs are coming back after our weekly story time on Tuesdays. In honor of Father’s Day, on June 10 from 4pm-6pm, children and their caregivers are invited to our "Generational Glow-up and Craft" program; come pamper yourself and child with nail polish, hair accessories, temporary tattoos, and a handprint craft. Our monthly Tablet Talk will be held on Tuesday, June 17 from 2pm – 4pm. June 20 at 2:30pm will be the Kindness Card Club, a community club to make cards of kindness for people in need. June 27 at 2:30pm join us for Summer Song BINGO with music from the 19th and 20th century. The writer’s support group meets monthly on the last Monday of the month, June 30 at 6pm.

We'll be kicking off Tabletop Tales on June 4 at 5:30pm with Honey Heist, the first in a monthly series where beginners can learn new tabletop RPGs--registration required! Crystal Sun catcher craft will be held on Wednesday June 11 (registration is required).

This month's take 'n make is a Watermelon craft. Stuff your own dragon on June 24 (space is limited, visit our website to register). Toddler Toy Time continues on Thursday mornings, as well as our monthly Playdough Club on Wednesday, June 11 and Lego Club on Wednesday, June 18.

Father's Day is June 15, 2025! Come by the library and take a Polaroid pic for Pops with our Instax Mini camera, sticker frames and backdrops - Open to All Ages!

With ten fingers, an ink pad, and a few quick pen lines, you can create animals, flowers, food, landscapes, and people. Come in and make fingerprint art on Wednesday, June 9.

Book Club will be meeting Friday, June 27 to discuss "Flowers for Algernon" a story by Daniel Keyes about Charlie Gordon, an intellectually disabled man who undergoes an experiment to increase his IQ. The story explores themes of intelligence, identity, love, and humanity through his diary entries.

Visit the Sciencenter this Summer and save $$$ with our Free Pass! 

Adult Art Series: June 3 - Watercolor Dimensions (pt.2) with Wynn Yarrow, June 10 - Watercolor Dimensions and Textures with Wynn Yarrow (registration opens two weeks before these events). This month's Cookbook Bookclub theme is Fresh Produce and will be held on June 30. Also, this month on June 11 - Calligraphy Club. We are still accepting donations of tea cups for an upcoming adult craft program.

Hello, June means Hello, summer! Hang out and have fun with other tweens and teens at West Elmira Library activities. Learn to make a colorful, folded paper pinwheel at our Tween Maker time. Tweens can also pick up June's Club 1231 book club selection, "Front Desk" by Kelly Yang and then, join us for an engaging discussion with book-themed snacks. In addition, bring some friends and relax, hang out and color during the weekly Creative Coloring Club time.

Wrap up the school year with arts and crafts! Create colorful and unique Perler Bead designs on Monday afternoons at our Pride Perler Bead program. Go on our monthly scavenger hunt to find all of the Fruits and Vegetables hidden around the library to win a prize. Register to make your own Diamond Art Unicorn Key Chain on June 18. Have fun every Thursday morning with Mr. Jeff at Storytime, and never miss a Home School lesson with Ms. Lynda and the "Library Learners" Wednesday mornings (ends June 18). Let your imagination soar at Lego Club the last Wednesday of the month, and win big at Bingo for Kids the last Thursday of the month. And, of course, join us at the Summer Reading Club Kick-off Party on June 30! West Elmira is your community library for growth, fun, and learning!

Our book club meets the 2nd Friday of the month at Bulkhead Hardware in Southport at 1:30pm.

For the month of May, we read "The Life We Bury" by Allen Eskens, to discuss on June 13.

We will read "The Hideaway" by Lauren K. Denton, to discuss in July.

The bookmobile schedule for June 5 & 6 has been adjusted, due to Steele Memorial Library being closed for construction on those days. Please look at the online calendar for more information.

Can't make it to the library? Attend a virtual genealogy workshop via Zoom or join one of our virtual book clubs! The Big Flats Library's book club meets both in-person and online. The CCLD Virtual Evening Book Club meets online only.

Enjoy ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, streaming video, online classes, language learning, and more, from the convenience of your home! Check out the library's website for a list of digital services that can be accessed remotely with your Chemung County Library District card.