The Brownwood Public Library Summer Reading Club held its finale at the Brownwood Regional Airport.

The party marked the conclusion of the 8-week summer reading club program with the Brownwood Library.

“It has been an amazing summer,” said Becky Isbell. “Every year since 2020 we’ve looked at our numbers and hoped they’d get back to pre-coronavirus numbers. This year they’ve far exceeded pre-coronavirus numbers. Although we don’t have the final numbers yet, we have 529 people signed up to read. Kids, and a few adults, have read more than 5,000 hours! Our top readers have read more than 100 hours this summer.”

Isbell added it wasn’t the top readers she is most excited about.

“Generally those kids don’t need extra encouragement to read,” Isbell said. “For the kids who struggle to read, encouraging them to read just a few hours during the summer can make such a difference in their academic success in the coming school year. I’m excited to see how many have read just a few hours this summer, or those who reached the goal of reading 10 hours. We had 318 kids so far who have recorded any amount of reading this summer. And 194 kids so far read at least 10 hours this summer.”

Isbell expressed thanks to the Brownwood Regional Airport for hosting the event.

“They’ve gone above and beyond to provide an amazing finale party,” Isbell said. “They’ve lined up a host of local agencies for the kids to learn and explore.”

Among those on hand were the Brownwood Fire Department, Early and Brownwood Police Departments, Lifeguard EMS, Lake Patrol, Howard Payne University and a variety of different aircraft.

Sponsors for the finale party included United Supermarket, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, Dairy Queen, Walmart, Texas Bank, as well as the Brownwood Regional Airport.

Also helping sponsor for the Summer Reading Club throughout the summer were Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Chili’s, City of Brownwood, Cotton Patch Café, Dairy Queen, Dinosaur valley State Park, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, KFC, Lake Brownwood State Park, McAlister’s Deli, McDonalds, Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, Pecan Valley Kiwanis, Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen, San Angelo Symphony, Schlotzsky’s, Section Hand Steakhouse, Sonic, Subway, Taco Bell, Texas Farm Bureau, Underwood’s Bar-B-Q, Whataburger, Wing Stop, Woman’s Club of Brownwood.