Celebrating 20 years of Book Camp at the Kenny Lake Public Library

Part of the group that participated in 'Book Camp' 2025 at the Kenny Lake Public Library. Photo by Judith Lorenz.

By Judith Lorenz - Kenny Lake Book Camp Coordinator

Another Kenny Lake Book Camp has come and gone, gathering around books, fun games and activities centered around literacy. For five days, July 14th-18, the library was transformed into ‘Book Camp’, inviting together 25 children and 6 youth counselors from the Copper Basin to foster a love of reading and summertime fun.

Our day camp has grown over the years into a unique and well-curated event for our local youth to learn and grow together as a group of a wide age range, from Kindergarten to high schoolers.

Under the guidance of iREAD, a nationwide reading program, we find resources and ideas that promote reading. This year’s theme was ‘Level Up at Your Library’ and was centered around games and improving skills of all sorts.

A typical day at camp starts with fun ice-breaking games outside, followed by a snack. Then we gather inside for ‘Shared reading’, where each child shares their reading from the day before, having written in their individual notebook about the book they read or are currently reading. For those not yet reading, they can just share a story they have been read to by a parent or counselor. We then move on to a craft or STEAM activity in small groups. 

Next comes our ‘DEAR’ time (Drop Everything And Read): everyone finds a book and sometimes a partner and goes to read in any corner of the library for 15-20 minutes. Early in the afternoon, we split into groups to work on our ‘Reader’s Theater,’ a short skit that children practice reading and acting out loud all week. We end the day with outdoor games, from treasure hunts to cooperative games.

Our camp always ends with a celebration on Friday. Parents are invited to the children's Reader's Theater presentation, followed by reading & attendance rewards and a delicious potluck. A water balloon fight traditionally ends camp joyfully!

‘Book Camp’ was made possible by a grant from the Camps Initiative at The Alaska Community Foundation in partnership with the Rasmuson Foundation. Other generous donors this year were Copper Valley Electric Association Community Foundation and Wenger’s Country Store.

Thanks to their support, we were able to provide transportation for bringing children to camp and back, serve healthy and nutritious snacks and lunches for almost 35 people daily, offer reading rewards and prizes, and purchase craft supplies and material needed to make this camp truly special.

Local organizations also supported this event: Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE), provided the use of a van to transport children from Chitina and along the way to the library and back daily, as well as a dedicated driver, Cecilia Dusek, WISE summer intern, who joined us for Camp all week as a counselor. Wrangell St Elias National Park Service (WSNPS) provided a day with Park Ranger Diane Ellsworth who had a fun and interactive game for the children about the life cycle of mosquitoes.

Local musicians Sarah and Cutler Heiser joined us for a jam session at the library where children could pick their favorite song to be played and a sing-along.

Thank you to all our counselors for their time and energy to help with the children. We couldn’t do it without them.

Last but not least, I would like to give a special thank you to Felicia Riedel, the lighthouse of ‘Book Camp’ and our library for countless years! Felicia has dedicated her life to education in all its many forms. She was instrumental in starting Book Camp and has continued to keep it alive throughout the years. Her love of children, her teaching skills, her patience and wisdom are a source of inspiration.