Our Daily Show Interview: Beyond the Shelves With Hayner! A Ton of Summer Fun Left!
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ALTON - The Hayner Public Library District’s Summer Reading Program might be over, but Executive Director Mary Cordes promises there’s plenty of summer fun left.
“We are rocking and rolling,” Cordes said.
At 2 p.m. on Aug. 3, 2025, community members can enjoy “An Afternoon with Switchback” at the Benjamin Godfrey Chapel on the Lewis and Clark Community College campus. This award-winning duo will play Celtic and American roots music, and Cordes promises they are “high-energy and really talented musicians.”
This event will be followed by “X’s and Sews: A Crafting Program” from 6–7:30 p.m. on Aug. 5 at Hayner’s Alton Square Mall location. This “really popular” program invites crafters to bring their art projects to the library and work on them while chatting with other artists.
Cordes noted that Hayner has several online databases, including Creativebug, which offers tutorials of crafts and art techniques. She encourages people to come out to the X’s and Sews program, utilize Creativebug at home or at the event, and enjoy the community they’ve built through the program.
At 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 6, community members can come to “Yarn Bombers Workshop: Chicken Stitch!” to learn how to make a granny square chicken at the Alton Square Mall location. Members of the Yarn Bombers group will teach participants how to make the granny square chicken, or you’re also welcome to bring another knitting or crocheting project to the library. Supplies will be provided.
“You can make a cute little chicken,” Cordes said. “Also, if you don’t want to make the chicken, but if you want to learn to knit, if you want to learn to crochet, come to Yarn Bombers. Everybody who comes to this loves knitting and crocheting, and they would love to teach you how to do it.”
On Saturday, Aug. 9, Cordes encourages all bookworms to stop by any Hayner Library location for National Book Lovers Day. If you share your favorite book or author with a librarian that day, you will receive a prize.
Cordes is especially looking forward to the next installment of “Family Line Dancing” from 6–7 p.m. on Aug. 13. As part of this program, Michael Wooten from Effervescent Studios offers a line dancing class for participants ages 10 and up at Hayner Library’s Alton Square Mall location.
“That has been so popular that at one point we had dancers sort of bumping into one another,” Cordes shared. “[Wooten] is fantastic. Patrons love him. He is teaching family line dancing, so if you’re a family, come on out. It’s free, it’s good exercise, and you learn to line dance.”
As teens prepare to return to school, Cordes is pleased to offer several teen art programs, including “Teen Draw to Impress” on Aug. 20, “Teen Make and Take Craft” on Aug. 27, and “Teen Expressive Art” on Aug. 29. She explained that the teenagers on the Teen Advisory Council love creating art, and the library is happy to provide them with art-based programs.
“If you want teens to come to the library, you’ve got to give them what they want,” Cordes said. “What they love is art. They love drawing. They love any kind of art project that we can give them.”
All of the Hayner Public Library District’s events and programs are completely free to attend, though registration is encouraged. You can register by calling 1-800-613-3163. For more information about Hayner Library, including a calendar of their upcoming events, visit their official website at HaynerLibrary.org.
