It wasn’t until the 1970s we learned that dinosaurs didn’t actually drag their tails behind them when they walked, but that didn’t stop filmmakers from depicting them that way throughout the 1980s. It finally became a widely accepted fact that dinosaurs practiced good posture and walked with their tails held high around the early 90s—just in time for a very popular movie featuring prehistoric creatures running amok in a theme park to hit theaters.

The Alamosa Public Library’s first summer reading program took place in 1975 and last year, we hosted 50 Years of Summer Reading to celebrate that fact. But as it happened with the dinosaurs, a new discovery was made recently that changed everything we thought we knew. Found sitting atop a shelf in the library’s back office, were a pair of forgotten scrapbooks filled to the brim with tawny newspaper clippings dating back to the early 1960s. One of those clippings showed that our beloved yearly program had actually been a regular occurrence for at least 10 years before its previously believed inception.
 

Our library has moved around a lot over the years, starting as a small room above the firehouse on 6th Street to its current location by Cole Park. Some history was bound to get lost along the way. But whether or not 1965 is the true beginning of our annual summer reading program has yet to be confirmed. Mary Lou Tooker began her tenure as head librarian in 1961, so maybe it actually started with her? Then again, there was mention of a “summer reading club” in a letter from former librarian, Leone Galerneau, penned in 1937, which makes me wonder if it actually began sometime during the Great Depression. As the Alamosa Public Library’s self-proclaimed library historian, I really wish I knew.

1975 may no longer be the true starting point of our annual summer reading program, but it is when the library began consistently documenting its summertime activities. After scouring the annals of old library board meeting minutes, scrapbooks, photo albums, and old flyers, I’ve been able to list every summer reading theme since 1975, and nothing from before.

While the exact origins of our summer reading program may remain lost to history, one thing is clear: the spirit of encouraging young readers in Alamosa has endured for decades. Whether we are celebrating 50 years or nearly a century of summer reading, the library remains dedicated to fostering a love of books for generations to come.

By Judith Boyd, Customer Service Assistant