One of the drawbacks to lengthy summer vacations for children and parents alike is boredom. There are limits to endurance of swimming, bicycling or even watching TV. Then the familiar whine of “I’m bored” is repeatedly heard.

Compared to that, the drone of chirping crickets is music to the ears.

What to do, especially when fun can be so expensive, where amusement parks or trips to the beach are concerned?

Our answer is the free reading programs regularly provided by the Blackwater Regional Library.

We don’t believe there’s such a concept as too much reading, and coupling that with activities and presentations makes for ideal boredom-busters.

Kudos to the staff that continually thinks up and presents creative ways of getting children to read, particularly during the summertime.

For example, what better way is there to spur an interest in both books and the outdoors than to help dispel some common myths concerning animals?

And, by “animals” we don’t mean all just cats and dogs.

So far this year, Blackwater branches throughout the Western Tidewater region have kicked off their summer reading programs with Denise Tomlinson’s “Bat World” in Courtland. More recently, John Barnes, a.k.a. “JB,” returned to Windsor to present his traveling “JB’s Rattles” reptile show.

In both cases, attendees were able to learn more about the beneficial roles of bats, snakes, lizards and other critters that some children and parents would have described as gross or creepy beforehand.

Naturally, each branch has plenty of books about any of the subjects related to any of activities they experience.

As you can see either in our paper or online at www.blackwaterlib.com, there’s a regular list of things to do at each of the branches.

We urge you and your offspring to become regular patrons and discover  engaging and entertaining ways to learn and have fun.