We all love our summer reading lists, full of fun beach reading and those other books we didn’t have time to read during the school year. But in addition to the extra reading, I thought it might be fun to think up a summer doing list with some library-related activities when we have a little more free time.

“Fun, off the job keeps him on the job,” Office of Emergency Management, circa 1943

Here, in no particular order, are some of my suggestions. Please add your own in the comments!

1. Tour a local library. Many public and academic libraries have guided tours with interesting tidbits about the history of the library and building. Some corporate libraries also have public tours of their facilities.
2. Get to know other library students. Spend some time getting to know classmates in your program. Try to find library students in different programs, too, so that you can get a different perspective on what kind of experiences people are getting in their programs. The HLS summer meetups encourage this type of networking. If you are interested in seeing a summer meetup near you and are interested in helping organize a meetup, let us know. (Remember also that our readers’ map is a great way to see if there are other HLS readers near you.)
3. Attend an event at your local library. Many public libraries run all sorts of programs like outdoor movie nights, stargazing events (of the astronomical sort), story walks (stories laid out on a nature walk, usually geared towards children, but lots of fun for all), and various types of literary and cultural arts lectures. Academic libraries often have more research-based presentations during the summer, and many archives have smaller workshop presentations by visiting scholars using their collections. If there is an archival collection you are interested in, definitely check out any presentations that scholars may be giving as part of their research fellowships. Going to events also helps you put faces and names to the programs, and you get to know who is running what types of programs.
4. Build a Little Free Library. One of the great things about projects like Little Free Library is that it really is about fostering a sense of community–in the act of building a library with neighbors and through the circulation of books in the little libraries. (I had the chance to work with fellow students in the Progressive Librarian Guild at St. Catherine University on building LFLs for campus.)
5. Train your dog to be a literacy dog for libraries. Most certifications require basic obedience training first. The R.E.A.D. program for therapy animal training is the main program guiding most certifications.

See also these earlier posts:

• How to Hack Your Summer Vacation
• How to Spend Your Last Summer Before Library School
• Summer Learnin’: Attending Conferences
• HLS Summer Reading Recommendations

What are you doing this summer?