Library Kicks Off Summer Season Today With a Concert

The West Orange Public Library is jumping on-board the township’s sesquicentennial theme this summer with a children’s outdoor concert featuring local children's rock star Mr. Ray today, June 28, at 7 p.m. on the .

When Ray Andersen, also know as Mr. Ray, grew up in West Orange, he lived in the same house that Carole King once lived in when she wrote many of her chart-topping songs. Ray has jammed with Bruce Springsteen, Meatloaf, and is a star in the “kindie” music world. 

Advance registration is recommended. Sign up for this free event online or by calling 973-736-0198. 

The Mr. Ray concert is just the beginning of a fun-filled summer. Children can also join the library's Summer Reading Club. Kids who read at least four hours a week will earn a finger puppet at the end of ever week. Children who meet their reading goal will get their name placed on a bookplate in a library book! 

The list of other programs to keep children active this summer include:

• A visit from the Turtle Back Zoo;

• A performance of Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers;

• Crafts;

• Story times;

• Music by the City Winds Trio; and

• A look at some amazing bugs with the Essex County Environmental Center.  

Advance registration is required for all children’s programs. Check out the schedule and sign up online at www.wopl.org.

Summer fun is not just for the kids. The library has a full slate of entertaining and educational programs for adults and teens, too. 

Programs for teenagers this summer include:

• Crafts,

• Movies;

• Gaming;

• An interactive murder mystery performance; 

• And a hip hop dance workshop.  

Adults and teens can also attend workshops on canning and preserving; flower pressing; a vintage guitar performance; a presentation about the Lenape Indians; and a lecture about Thomas Edison by the West Orange Town Historian Joe Fagan. In addition, adults and teens who read four hours each week will be entered into a drawing for fun prizes.