Members of the Jamestown Fire Department Wednesday morning at the James Prendergast Library. The department brought trucks and equipment to show the children in the Outdoor Storytime program and held a demonstration. P-J photo by Katrina Fuller

The James Prendergast Library’s yard was full of firefighters Wednesday morning — but not because of an emergency.

Instead, the Jamestown Fire Department was helping out for the weekly Outdoor Storytime program. The department brought trucks and equipment to show the children and held a demonstration on how quickly they can put on their gear.

Both firefighters were able to put on their gear in under two minutes, much to the delight of the attendees.

Joanna Sorensen, children’s librarian, said the library has enjoyed having outside organizations like the fire department drop in to enrich their summer reading program.

“We’re coming closer to the end of our summer program,” Sorensen said. “The Outdoor Story Time started in the beginning of June, and we’ve been able to get special guests in on occasion. This is the second time the Jamestown Fire Department has come in; the first time they got rained out, so the kids couldn’t see the stuff on the truck. But they did the safety presentation upstairs in our community room. Next week, we’ll have Infinity here.”

Jennifer Champ, assistant library manager, said Infinity will bring drums and discuss their creative programming, such as their art and music programs.

“The whole idea is to reach out to the community and have the library be a space for community connection,” she said. “We have partnered with the Humane Society, and we’ve had the Jamestown Police Department. Hope the comfort dog was here twice.”

She said in the coming weeks, Cornell Cooperative Extension will also be a part of the weekly storytime, discussing nutrition for children in conjunction with the Jamestown Mobile Market. “They’re going to be talking about simple meals that you can make with your kids, and things that kids can do themselves in terms of making some healthy treats,” she said.

Champ said Outdoor Storytime will continue into the fall if the weather permits. However, the schedule will return to Tuesday and Wednesday programs for different age groups. Tuesdays will be First Years storytime for children from birth to 3-year-olds, while Wednesdays will be for the Early Learning group, from age 3-5.

“But we welcome all ages,” Champ said. “We’re actually adding another storytime in on Friday evenings as we have had such a great turnout with families wanting to bring all ages. That will be in conjunction with the maker space and having that open again for the first time in a long time.”

Kristie Bemis, a librarian involved in the program, said close to 700 children across the area are participating in the summer reading program. “We have approached our pre-pandemic numbers so our numbers are close to 2019’s numbers, if not exceeding 2019’s numbers,” she said.

The Fall storytimes will begin in September, with times being announced within the next week. The summer storytime program is held on Wednesdays from 10:30-11: a.m., with the Jamestown Mobile Market, crafts and activities, and the YMCA Lunch Program following after.

Those interested in storytimes and other library programs can visit www.prendergastlibrary.org or find the library on Facebook for more information.