TIFTON — The Tifton-Tift County Public Library kicked off its summer reading program with a bang through the second run of the Books on the Block Literacy Festival.

Youths of the community and their families were invited to the side street next to the library the evening of June 1 to take part in a festival organized by the library and various organizations of the community to celebrate the start of the season of summer reading.

Kristen Harrington, program coordinator for the Coastal Plains Regional Library System, stated that this was the second run of the festival, but that she was proud to report it had become bigger and better than the previous year’s showing.

As they entered the festivities, children were prompted to register for summer reading at the front of the library, where they were given a passport and encouraged to visit each of the booths at the event and complete an activity there for a stamp.

Once their passport was fully stamped, they could return to the Coastal Plain Library booth at the front of the festival to receive entry into a raffle.

Alongside this little tour, the event boasted a variety of games, such as a kid-friendly Velcro axe-throwing range, food and refreshments from local businesses like Savor the Flavor and Say It with A Cookie, and live entertainment from DJ Garfield.

Patrons were also encouraged to dress up as their favorite book characters and participate in a costume contest to determine the best outfit. A child and adult winner was declared for the contest, with the adult participant, dressed up as Zeus, receiving a “Monopoly: Marvel Super Villains Edition” game and the child winner, dressed as Junie B. Jones, receiving a copy of the book “What We’ll Build” by Oliver Jeffers.

Though the event served as the kickoff for the youth’s summer reading program, Harrington and the staff of the local library asserted that they had plenty prepared for the older age groups of the community to take part in throughout both June and July.

This itinerary, which was displayed near the entrance to the festival and can be found on the library’s Facebook page, will begin with a pair of events on June 7 — “Adventures in Ancestry” at 10 a.m., which will invite residents 12 and up to create their personal family tree from the names of their parents, grandparents, and siblings, and “History Walk with Bruce Green” at 5 p.m., a walking tour around Tifton exploring the history of the Friendly City, meant for those 18 and older.

Additionally, library staff has encouraged community members to participate in the “Steal the Snorlax” event to be held throughout June, where they must remove a large inflatable of the Pokémon Snorlax from the library premises without damaging it, deflating it, or the staff catching them in the act.

For more information on the local library’s events, visit its Facebook page or contact (229)386-7148.