In this video, the librarians attempt to create a catapult in an effort to chuck some pumpkins! Interested in building your very own pumpkin catapult? Check out our supply list.
The Librarians on the Loose test out their ghost hunting kits at a local Plain City residence with a history strange occurrences. Visit plaincitylib.org/ghost-hunting–kits for details or to reserve a kit for your very own Ghost Hunting adventure.
Little Lending Libraries are book sharing boxes that are available all the time and freely accessible to all. These book boxes are a free book exchange and contain all types of books: from board books and picture books to chapter books to novels for teens and adults, all books in good condition are welcome! Visitors are encouraged to take a book or leave a book. You do not need to share a book in order to take one. If you take a book or two from a little library, try to bring some to share to that same library, or another in your area, when you can.
You’ll find that each Little Lending Library is different and has it’s own character! While some Little Lending Libraries stand on public property or near local businesses, others stand on private property often near sidewalks or walking trails. Wherever they live, please be respectful when visiting a Little Lending Library.
Plain City Area Little Lending Library Interactive Map
Use this tool to locate a local Little Lending Library near you! Click the arrow button to get started using the interactive map. Know of one we missed? Contact the Plain City Public Library so we can add it to our list. Little Lending Libraries are not affiliated with or maintained by the Plain City Public Library.
We’d like to extend a special thank you to the Cheryl Brockman for initiating many of these little libraries and sharing her records to make this map possible. Recognition also goes to the Plain City Lions Club and Perry Beachy for funding and building many of Plain City’s Little Lending Libraries.
Name
Location
Details
Plain City Public Library Reading Garden
305 W Main St. Plain City OH 43064
Located in the Reading Garden at the front entrance of the library.
Pastime Park North Entrance Playground
370 N Chillicothe St. Plain City OH 43064
Located at the north entrance to Pastime Park next to the playground.
Jerome Township Fire Department
9689 US Highway 42 N Plain City, OH 43064
Located in the park behind the fire station.
Plain City Public Library Community Garden
305 W Main St. Plain City OH 43064
Located on the side lawn next to the community garden.
Plain City Elementary School
580 S Chillicothe St. Plain City, OH 43064
Located on the bike path near the playground.
Private Residence
440 South Chillicothe St. Plain City, OH 43064
Located at a private residence near the sidewalk.
Private Residence
919 Wellsley Way Plain City, OH 43064
Located at a private residence near the sidewalk.
Plain City Druggist
480 S Jefferson Ave. Plain City, OH 43064
Located in a grassy area next to the Plain City Druggist parking lot.
Canaan Community Mobile Home Park
5130 Plain City Georgesville Rd. Plain City, OH 43064
Located behind the office in the chimney nook.
Private Residence
4935 SR 38 NE London, OH 43140
Located at a private residence across from Monroe Elementary School.
Green Meadows Mobile Home Park
2900 State Route 29 London, OH 43140
Located in a small flower garden near the park office.
Mitchell’s Farms
9331 Mitchell-Dewitt Rd. Plain City, OH 43064
Seasonal. To prevent damage, the library may be closed when the farm is closed.
Pick up your Library material from our convenient pickup lockers, available during and after regular Library operating hours. The pickup lockers are located at the rear of the building next to the book drop. Place your holds online and we will let you know when your items are available to pick up.
We’re flipping Summer Reading on it’s head with some weird and wonderful events for teens and adults. Check out our event line-up below!
Attend an Upside Down Summer Reading event to earn one entry into a drawing for a special Upside Down prize basket. Attend as many programs as you’d like for more chances to win!
ESCAPE ROOM: BERMUDA TRIANGLE June 9 at 3:00pm. Hop on board PCPL Airlines Flight 4655 to travel from Florida to Puerto Rico…right over the Bermuda Triangle, a space in the North Atlantic where ships, planes, and people have allegedly gone missing. With your teammates, follow a series of clues to safely arrive at your destination. Can you escape the Bermuda Triangle and make it to Puerto Rico or will you get lost in the Bermuda Triangle forever? For kids ages 10 and up. Registration is required.
UPSIDE DOWN SCREEN PRINTING June 22 at 6:00pm. As part of our Stranger Things inspired Upside Down Summer reading program, we’ll screen print bags featuring the famed Big Darby Beast. Registration is limited, so sign up now!
GHOST STORIES FOR GROWN-UPS Join us online July 7th at 8pm for episode 10 of Ghost Stories for Grown-Ups. Settle in for some horrible fun as we share stories both true and imagined to tingle the spine. This episode featuring creepy aquatic creatures is part of our Upside Down Summer Reading Program. Scan the QR code at the end of the episode to be entered into our special Upside Down prize basket drawing. Due to the subject matter, this program is intended for mature audiences.
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON IN 3D! July 13 at 6:00pm. Join us for a 3D screening of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Remnants of a mysterious animal have come to light in a remote jungle, and a group of scientists intends to determine if the find is an anomaly or evidence of an undiscovered beast. To accomplish their goal, the scientists (Antonio Moreno, Richard Carlson, Richard Denning, Whit Bissell) must brave the most perilous pieces of land South America has to offer. But the terrain is nothing compared to the danger posed by an otherworldly being that endangers their work and their lives. Watch this classic 1954 film on the library’s big screen in 3D!
MONSTERS IN OHIO – PRESENTED BY JAMES WILLIS July 27 at 6:30pm. Sure, like every other state, Ohio has its fair share of Bigfoot sightings. So many, in fact, that Ohioans believe we even have our own version of Bigfoot: The Ohio Grassman. But don’t worry about the Grassman getting lonely in Ohio. That’s because Ohio is alleged to be home to a whole host of bizarre and unique monsters and cryptids! Learn about the Grassman and more from author and paranormal researcher James Willis.
If you’re an adult who reads YA, you’re not alone. While dated now, a study performed in 2012 discovered that more than half of YA book sales came from adults, particularly those aged 30-44. My first challenge to this statistic was “of course! Adults are buying YA books for their teenage children”, but the study further explains that 78% of the adults buying YA books were actually buying them to read themselves (Publishers Weekly, 2012). If you follow the math, this means about 43% of all YA book sales were going directly to adult readers. These statistics do not include library users, so the overall number of adults reading YA was likely higher.
Ten years later in 2022, I think it’s safe to assume the number of adults reading YA titles is much higher with the rise of BookTube and Booktok, platforms where many adults and teens are sharing their favorite young adult titles on YouTube and TikTok. In fact, the 26% increase in YA fiction sales from 2020 to 2021 has been attributed to the insurgence of BookTok videos recommending backlist YA books with bestselling titles They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart front and center (The NPD Group, 2021). Although both of these books are older (published in 2017 and 2014, respectively), I can personally confirm that I’ve seen both wildly promoted on the platform.
So we understand that YA as a genre is booming, but why does it appeal so heavily to adult readers? Personally, I continue to find myself connecting with coming-of-age stories even as an adult because I’m always learning, growing, and coming into myself no matter how many years have passed and I haven’t found something with quite the same feel in adult literature. Similarly, English Literature professor Virginia Zimmerman explains that “to come of age is perhaps the most common ground there could be among readers. Adults recognize it as something they’ve been through, but they also recognize it as something of a fantasy. It suggests some sort of stable existence. And as adults, we know that we continue to change, continue to come of age.” She also goes on to say that “the YA books that have been popular with adults are dark and serious and hard. People might to go to YA literature to sink into a reality different than their own, but I think they sink into that reality to encounter feelings, challenges, and relationships they recognize from their own lives” (The Atlantic, 2017). In essence, adults are reading YA novels to connect with characters they relate to and feel their emotions deeply.
On the other side of the coin, Spencer Miller says:
Another reason I personally love YA is reading about experiences I don’t relate to. I read to understand what it is like to be a young person today, especially a young person who is growing up completely differently then I did. Most of my recent learning about race, sex, gender, ability and other important facets of identity has come from reading about the diverse experiences of characters in YA fiction. The books I’m reading are having all the conversations no one wanted to have with me when I was teenager. My anxieties about addiction, violence, and the climate crisis are calmed by the realizations and determination of YA protagonists.
Spencer Miller, 2020
Blogger Monica Hay asked similar questions to four publishing professionals as well as adult readers of YA which resulted in 2139 responses. Many of these responses indicate that adults are reading YA titles because they’re fun to read, full of escapism from everyday life, and contain more female-driven stories and are less pretentious than adult literature. In addition to these responses, Monica deduced that much of the reasoning provided by readers hinted to the tone of YA titles. Many respondents claimed that reading YA left them feeling hopeful with one respondent claiming that “adult books are about learning to live in the world we have. YA books are about changing the world” (Hay, 2019).
No matter why you read it, there’s space for you in the reading community as an adult reader of YA books. I hope you find the below recommendations helpful and are comforted by the knowledge that, no matter what you read, you’re not alone!
If you’re an adult who loves to read YA or wants to give it a shot, check out our new summer book club! Follow the library’s social media for updates about monthly picks and go to our events page to sign up.
