You can access all of our Dare County Library events within a single calendar on our website. See everything that's happening all at once or sort by library location. 

When: June 26, July 24 and August 28, starting at 5:30 p.m. 

The Beach Food Pantry will be visiting the Manteo Library throughout the summer to share fresh produce with the local Manteo community.

This produce is free to anyone who lives or works in Dare County, and no I.D. is required. Please come by and take some home with you! 

We received over 300 entries this year! Dare County Library staff members had a difficult time judging because there were so many great entries.

Congratulations to this year’s winners:

• Alice (age 2-6 category) 
• Ashlin (age 7-9 category) 
• Camryn (age 10-13 category)
• Lucy-Kate (age 14-18 category)  

Stop by your local library location in June to pick up one of the winning bookmarks (while supplies last!!

The Dare County Library's Summer Reading Program is designed to encourage participation in weekly programs scheduled at every library location, but it allows for children to participate however they want. Children can stop by their library branch any time it is open to report and record their reading achievement.   

This year’s Summer Reading theme is “All Together Now” around which Ms. Donna and Ms. Tammy have many fun, engaging and educational programs planned. Children can register beginning Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at the Kill Devil Hills Library and Thursday, June 22, 2023, at the Hatteras Library and Manteo Library.

The program rewards children who read for a total of 40 days out of the 50-plus days of the program with a brand-new book to keep, courtesy of the Dare County Library Foundation. Days spent reading over the summer are tracked at each library, and books that your child reads can be either library books or books from home. Children will receive a sticker for each day they read or are read to on their reading log.

Preschool age children are invited to enroll in a special “All Together Now” Summer Reading Program just for them, which is designed to improve their reading and listening skills. Parents can track the books they read with their preschoolers. Preschool Story hours continue over the summer but the schedule changes, so be sure to check our online calendar or stop by the library to pick up an “All Together Now” Summer Reading Program calendar of events.

“All Together Now” kicks off the week of June 19, 2023, with fun activities scheduled to take place at all three Dare County Library locations. All programs are free and open to children of all ages.

• The Kill Devil Hills Library has two exciting kickoff events planned – the first on Tuesday, June 20, between 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m., with a repeat of this program and a second signup event on Thursday, June 22, between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. 
  
  
• The Hatteras Library’s programming will kick off on 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 22, with OBX Lizard Land and their amazing live creatures.
  
  
• The Manteo Library’s kickoff program is planned for Thursday June 22 at 3 p.m. with the incredible live creatures from OBX Lizard Land.

If you can’t make it to one of these kickoff events, you can register any time throughout the summer at the front desk of your local library branch beginning on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

The Dare County Library is pleased to announce the addition of a new children’s book format to our collection at all three library locations. WonderBooks are produced by Playaway, and each title is the complete print children’s book with the audio version of the book attached.

A small MP3 player gives children the option to follow along while a narrator reads the book or to choose "learning mode" to answer simple and engaging open-ended questions about the story. Plug-in earphones (not included) can be used for a more private reading experience. 

These books are shelved separately at each library location. Look for the “Read Along” sticker on the spine of the book. You can also find them in our online catalog by searching for “Read Along.” We have started with a collection of mainly picture books, but we also have a small number of Leveled Readers and Juvenile Fiction. Our new "Read Along" collection offers children an entertaining and interactive experience. Please stop by to check them out!

When: Wednesday, June 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Where: Kill Devil Hills Library parking lot 

Outer Banks Health offers free wellness screenings on the new Health Coach vehicle, which include checking blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, blood sugar and body mass index, as well as health coaching. The Health Coach will be in the parking lot of the Kill Devil Hills Library from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7. 

Appointments are highly recommended and take priority. To make an appointment, please call 252-449-4529.

Don't let the length of Abraham Verghese's latest novel, "Covenant of Water," deter you from reading this book. This is a story with many threads and many people, and it teaches us of other cultures, joy and loss, and illness and healing. The characters have such depth that you'll find yourself able to relate to each of them. I was truly sorry to finish this work and look forward to Mr. Verghese's next work.

- Kathy Lassiter, Library Staff, Kill Devil Hills Library