During the summer of 2025, many public libraries across Indiana will explore all aspects of the arts through the summer reading theme “Color Our World.” This national theme, selected by the Collaborative Summer Library Program, will encourage library patrons to celebrate summer through painting, drawing, music, textile arts, theater, writing, storytelling, photography and more! If you work at a library, I’ve compiled some helpful resources to assist you with planning.

Webinar: In January of 2025, I offered a webinar that highlights the 2025 “Color Our World” program and shares a variety of resources that should help you with program planning. You can view the webinar here.

Resource website: The resources shared during the above webinar can be found on Indiana State Library’s website.

Program ideas: Library staff are always seeking new and exciting ways to offer programming for their community members, so I collected program ideas from library staff who attend my in-person summer reading workshops (these workshops take place around the state in December and January ever year) and posted them under “Summer Program Ideas for Current Year” on the State Library’s website. You can also view program ideas from past years here. Of course, you can use most of these ideas year-round!  I recommend bookmarking them in your browser for quick access.

Collaborative Summer Library Program website and manual: The CSLP Online Manual is a treasure trove of summer planning resources and program ideas, so don’t forget to browse through it! To access the manual, go to www.cslpreads.org, then to “Manual Downloads,” and select “2025 Color Our World.” You’ll be prompted to enter the manual code, and once you do, you’ll have access to the artwork and manual! The online manual code was sent to directors via email in October of 2024, but Indiana public library staff may also request the code through this form through May 30, 2025.

Collaborative Summer Library Program Summer Symposium: The CSLP Summer Symposium is a national, virtual and free mini-conference that takes place in December. This year’s symposium featured a keynote from Mychal Threets and sessions on marketing summer, process art and sustainability. The recordings from the fourth annual symposium are available to watch and are eligible for one LEU per one hour session. View them here.

Summer 2025 should be a colorful celebration of the arts in our communities. I wish you all “happy planning!”

This blog post was submitted by Beth Yates, children’s consultant at the Indiana State Library.