Clarksville, TN – Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library’s Christina Riedel took a moment from counting attendants and talked about this year’s Touch a Truck event, the annual opportunity for kids of all ages to experience heavy equipment, firetrucks, and police vehicles up close.
“This is the official kickoff for our Summer reading program, and we already have about 2,000 family members here with us,” Riedel said. “We’re having a great time being of service and connecting with the City and County, for-profit and non-profits businesses, and most importantly, seeing a lot of smiles.
“One of the favorite things to do for these kids is to get into the cabs of these cool vehicles and honk the horn. I just talked to some couples, actually a flurry of folks who said, ‘when do you get a chance to get close to these vehicles or to be next to a firetruck, and gain a little understanding of how they do the things they do?”
Riedel hopes that the kids enjoy being in the trucks and are inspired to want to learn about them. “And that means reading,” Riedel continued. “This is a learning social experiment. It’s just a different type of hands-on learning experience. We have a booth where anybody at any age can sign up for one or more of our Summer reading programs. We already have twice the number of registrants for teen and adult programs this year. We’re very excited and we’re just going to keep learning and growing, which is what we’re all about, for everybody.”
The parking lot was filled with trucks, equipment and teams representing CDE, Clarksville Gas & Water, CFR, CPD, MCSO and more. There was also a school bus and a trolley. The biggest turnout in previous years was close to 5,000, but only an hour in, and the count was already exceeding 2,000.
“If the clouds subside, we hope to reach that 5,000 number,” Riedel said. “Inside, we have Artlink, Arts for Hearts, the Imagination Library, and a Summer reading table that talks about all the programs we’re offering here at the library and at Downtown Commons, thanks to the County.”
In addition to the fun and games inside and out at the library, families also enjoyed a great variety of food trucks and vendors – Chillz Italian Ice, Tacos Azteca, Pop & Dog, Twisted Creamery, Monster Cone, Philly King, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Poppin’ in the City, Big Kahuna, and Khairos Coffee.
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