VALLEY — The threat of rain put a damper on Saturday’s Summer Reader kickoff event on the lawn of Bradshaw-Chambers County Library but it didn’t cut down on attendance. A brief shower around 11:30 a.m. had many people heading indoors or crowding under tents that were set up on the lawn.

Afterwards, the crowd picked up again outside.

“The rain may have helped us with circulation,” Library Director Mary Hamilton said. “In terms of people checking out books on the day of the kickoff we were up 20 percent from last year. I was shocked when I saw those numbers.”

The reading program goes on until July 21 and there’s a lot of fun events along the way. Lew-E the Clown was there Tuesday morning. He’s made previous appearances at the library and is always a crowd pleaser for the children.

“We want to thank our volunteers and our community organizations for coming out and helping us on Saturday,” Hamilton said.

Local businesses and civic clubs had booths where children could win prizes. There were free hot dogs for everyone in attendance, and youngsters enjoyed the thrill of touching a big truck thanks to the East Alabama Fire Department having a fire truck there and Lanett EMS having an ambulance on site.