With mid-July quickly approaching, the Sensation Summer at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library is nearing its conclusion.

This summer, many activities have taken place at the library. Animal shows, painting classes, puppet shows and much more have visited the library to bring joy and entertainment to the community.

Executive director of the Selma-Dallas County Public Library Becky Nichols is stunned that summer went by as quick as it did.

“It’s hard to believe; I feel as though we just kicked off our fantastic summer with our dynamite magic show,” Nichols said. “I want to say what everyone else is saying, ‘where did the summer go?’”

Despite the Sensational Summer entering its final weeks, Nichols said the summer has been great, and children met many performers with many different careers and talents.

“It has been wonderful,” Nichols said. “We have had a lot of variety this summer. This year we had at least four animal shows; we had our petting zoo outside and a couple of reptile shows inside. I think a lot of the children that were interested in science and animals had the opportunity to see the many animals up close and personal. I feel we offered a well-balanced summer in terms of performers.”

According to Nichols, she feels that not only the children, but also the entire community benefits from the library’s summer activities.

“I think it has just been exciting for the community because there’s not as much to do in a small town as there is in a big city, and the library has brought in some performers from as far away as Tennessee, we even brought in one that was based in North Carolina,” Nichols said “I think the kids have been excited to just have one performer after another in our little wonderful town of Selma. I believe it’s beneficial to everyone.”

Nichols enjoyed each performer that visited the library. They all provided a blend of entertainment and education, which she believes is a great way to lure children into learning.

“All of the performances are my favorites,” Nichols said. “I love the arts and crafts, the puppet shows and bingo every Friday, and even though I don’t like snakes, the reptile show is always a hit.”

This year’s Sensational Summer was the 40th, and according to Nichols, it has been overwhelmingly successful.

“We’ve enjoyed the different ages that come participate at the library,” Nichols said. “I love the library when it’s busy, you can just see boys and girls interacting with each other and smiling. You can see moms, dads and grandparents enjoying being together.”

According to Nichols, planning for the next summer has already begun.

“You want to look at what went well, what didn’t go so well and fix it so that next summer it goes perfectly,” she said. “Next year is the 41st Sensational Summer; the show goes on.”