Treutlen County Library Sponsors Community Events

In conjunction with the 2026 Summer Reading Program, the Treutlen County Library recently sponsored a petting zoo on the lawn adjacent to the library’s rear entrance. There was much excitement among the many children who visited, as well as the adults; visitors ranged in age from toddlers to senior citizens. It was a beautiful day, and the library hosted nearly 125 attendees.

Some of the animals were quite foreign to many of the human guests, and the children were given the opportunity to hold and pet some animals they had never been around. The library says a big thank you to local community partners who took the time to share their pets for this project.

Brooke Phillips, owner of J& B Ranch, assisted by Melanie Hutcheson, brought Big John, a gigantic Belgian horse, as well as a quarter horse named Bee Bop, which the kids were excited to feed and pet. In addition to the horses, J& B Ranch brought along a “healthy” pig named Kune Kune and several goats, including Cookie, a nineweek old Nigerian Dwarf.

Kathryn Fowler brought four of her foster kittens, who loved seeing the kids. They were such friendly kits and were quite curious about all the commotion going on near the library.

Sheila Phillips presented several exotic species of animals, which many of the adults chose to steer clear of but were a hit with the children, as they were excited to get up close and personal with a twomonth- old ball python named Ranger; a gentle chameleon named Boy George; Tranny Ann, a big 1.5-year-old tarantula; and a beautiful leopard gecko named Gex.

Five eight-week-old playful lab mix puppies were brought by local animal rescue Diamonds in the Ruff, and they loved the attention they received from the children!

Higgs Funeral Home and Sammons Funeral Home were kind enough to erect two tents for participants since Hurricane Helene left us with fewer shade trees on the library lawn.

While the children were at the petting zoo, they were also able to sign up for another fun and exciting activity, the annual story walk. The story walk offered children and parents the opportunity to visit local businesses to read pages of a story, and the kids received treats and prizes at each location.

The Treutlen County Library board and staff stated the petting zoo and story walk were huge successes thanks to the support from the community.

Don’t forget to visit your area libraries, wherever you are located in Georgia. You never know what you will find there.

Weston Poole holds Boy George, a chameleon at the petting zoo.