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So by now you must be wondering what to do with the summer heat setting in and gas prices too high to consider jumping in the car for a cross-country trip. Of course, I’m a little biased, but I can’t think of any better answer than to visit a La Crosse County Library location in Bangor, Campbell, Holmen, Onalaska or West Salem for a change of pace.

Granted, it’s not how you might spend a typical summer day, but this time of year there is always something going on with our summer reading program and you’ll at least have a change of scenery at the library.

Even if you’ve got your own laptop with Internet capability, leave your home office and roam into Holmen, Onalaska and West Salem and pick up our wireless access. Find a lounge chair or a study table and work on that project without staring at the same four walls all the time, wishing you were outdoors. Maybe the distraction will be what you need to overcome a creative block.

If you’ve got kids climbing the walls bored already after just a few weeks of summer vacation, we can sure find something to keep them busy. If they’re not quite ready to pick up a book after a school year of reading then they might find some interest in our music collections or audio formats.

If you’re tired of seeing them plopped in front of the TV, drop by and find them an audio book to pump through their headphones. Before long they’ll have a “book” completed and maybe they’ll be hooked for more. Maybe even ready to move back to the print formats.

Many of our locations actually have great lounge areas for kids to curl up and escape into a great book. Check out our floor lizard in Holmen or the great double chair in West Salem. And despite the construction, our stuffed turtle and tiger both still have a spot on Onalaska’s floor.

If you really want some change in scenery, sit down at our Onalaska location for a bit. With construction under way on about 7,500 more square feet, there is always something new to look at these days.

It won’t be long before we wonder where the summer went so don’t let another minute of our summer reading program — Go Global: Read — pass you by. Our Midsummer Event is already just a few days away. On July 1-2, we’ll host the Ballet Folklorico de los Hermanos Avilia dance troupe, which will bring us the regional dances of Mexico. All shows are free and open to all ages.

Show times begin Tuesday, July 1, at West Salem at 12:30 p.m., Campbell at 3:30 p.m. and Onalaska at 6:30 p.m.. Shows continue Wednesday, July 2, at 12:30 p.m. in Onalaska, 3:30 p.m. in Bangor and 6:30 p.m. at Holmen.

Don’t stare out the window at another boring day. Find some fun and adventure at your local county library.

For more information about any of our services or locations, please call our library administrative center in Holmen at 526-9600. Watch our Web site — www.lacrossecountylibrary.com — for more information about what’s still to come this summer.

Christine McArdle-Rojo is director of the La Crosse County Library System.