By Dee Grenert Editor
CULVER — The Culver-Union Township Public Library encourages its patrons to get a clue this summer.
“Get a Clue About” — the library’s mystery-themed summer reading program — kicks off Saturday with a visit from DJ3PM at 1 p.m.
And while many libraries gear summer reading projects toward children, the Culver Library is adding reading programs for young adults and adults.
“We’re very excited to add an adult group in summer reading,” Library Director Carol Jackson said. “It inspires kids to be more involved if they see moms and dads and adults in the community reading and keeping up with their reading logs. It’s cross generational. It always works better if you’ve got everybody involved.”
Each group offers a different twist for participants.

The adult group, run by Jackson and Polly Wolf, will distribute what Jackson called “really cool prizes” to its top three readers.
On the young adult side — for incoming sixth to 12th graders — every five books earns readers an entry ticket for an end-of-summer prize.
“Each time they get a ticket, they’ll get a small prize,” Teen Zone coordinator Ali Schuldt said. “All tickets go into a drawing for an amazingly spectacular prize.”
In keeping with the program’s theme, children not only read books, but also help children’s librarian Linda Thorne solve “The Mystery of the Missing Manuscript.”
According to Thorne, library staff members will be suspects, and each week children will be allowed to ask library employees questions in hopes of unraveling the conundrum.
“Library books get misplaced; they have a tendency to get up at night and wander around,” Thorne said. “The manuscript could be almost anything. It could be a magazine. It could be a history book. We don’t know exactly what it is or what happened to it.”
As part of the program, each child receives a folder to mark their reading progress, a notebook to record clues, a pencil and a badge.
While Thorne intends for the children’s detective work to be enjoyable, she said it serves a larger, educational purpose.
“The object is to let kids get to know what goes on at the library,” she said. “What does the person at the front desk do? The accountant? We want them to learn all the steps involved in getting the book from the mail to the shelves.”
Children, like adults and young adults, collect prizes for finishing books. Participants who complete the program also enter a drawing for one of 35 seats for a boat ride on The Ledbetter.
In addition to reading, the library scheduled several events to complement the mystery theme.
Among the activities are CSI training for all three groups in July, a murder-mystery play for adults on July 26, an interactive murder mystery for young adults on July 6, an interactive play — “My Grandma’s Going to Kill Me” — on July 30 for children and a children’s Clue tournament on July 7.
“We’ve got some really cool programs going on with ‘Get a Clue About,’” Jackson said. “There’s something that will interest a wide variety of people. It’s going to be a busy, busy summer.”
Schuldt and Thorne also said volunteer opportunities exist this summer.
“I’m looking for teens to reshelve, clean up the collection area; there’s plenty to do,” Schuldt said. “We’ll have a pizza party at the end of summer for teens who volunteer for 10 or more hours.”
Thorne said she welcomes volunteers to help with crafts and read stories.
The reading program runs until Aug. 4.