By KATIE WARRNER
Children’s Services Librarian, Warsaw Community Public Library

WARSAW — Have you heard that Warsaw and Winona Lake are a finalist for the Stellar Communities designation, a community development program that rewards comprehensive, citizen- engaged planning? It is a cause for celebration, and the community is planning to do just that on July 1, when family activities along East Market Street culminate in a Super Stellar First Friday.

Warsaw Community Public Library is proud to kick off the fun in the afternoon at Krebs Trailhead Park on McKinley Street. Join us for a special Stellar edition of Stories in the Park at 2 and 3 p.m. and Summer LEGOs from 2:30-4 p.m.

The park, an oasis for bicyclists and pedestrians, opened the same year Warsaw and Winona Lake earned the Bicycle Friendly Community designation. Riding and reading have plenty in common. They both offer a path to independence and discovery, and while bikes exercise your body, books exercise your mind.

Bicycles also have plenty in common with the Summer Reading Program under way at the library, where the theme is wellness and fitness. We have many bicycle-themed books for active young readers. In the picture book collection you can meet bears or bugs or frogs on bikes. You can solve a bicycle mystery or have a bicycle adventure in beginning readers and chapter books alike. Fans of true stories may enjoy “Wheels of Change” by Sue Macy, a lavishly illustrated guide to bicycling and women’s history geared to readers in Fourth Grade on up.

Whether you decide to walk or ride, listen to a great story or curl up with a good book, the library encourages you to celebrate your Stellar community this summer.