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I think we’ve all learned something here today.  When it all comes down to it, and when all is said and done, summer reading t-shirts that are deeply attractive are rare, beautiful butterflies and that should be treasured and honored.  Which is to say . . . .

ARE YOU READY FOR A SUMMER READING T-SHIRT FASHION SHOW?!?!

Of course you are.

As some of you may recall, last week I was bragging something fierce about my library’s shockingly attractive summer reading t-shirt.  Here’s a group shot to give you a sense of what I mean.

Admit it.  You’re just a teeny bit jealous.  Because good looking t-shirts for summer reading are darn hard to find.

So to see how many good looking shirts are out there this year, I put it to the test.  I made a hashtag (#summerreadtee) and asked readers to send me their shirts.

Now as some readers were quick to inform me, not every library system gives free summer reading t-shirts to its employees every year.  To those libraries I offer my condolences.  Not every system has the money to do the t-shirt thing. And after all, t-shirts in summer is a classic library trope!

Here then are the submissions for 2016.

First off, if you’re playing along at home then you know that the theme of summer reading this year is “Read for the Win”.  That means sports sports sports.  And to set this on the right note, here are the libraries that figured out how sports could equal attractive t-shirt wear.

We begin with Lincolnwood, IL, which is not too far from Evanston.  Take note of the attractive blue and white design (complete with white stripes on the sleeves) as well as the fact that they CLEARLY gave their employees size choices.  Now that is a library system that cares!

The dog is even wearing one.  The dog.  Thanks to Brita for the link.

Run across the country and you’ll see that Delaware Library had its own way of doing the sports theme:

Extra points for sending a picture taken at a parade. Thanks to Connie for the picture.

Next up, letting Multnomah County Library play is kind of like letting a college kid play baseball with a Pee-Wee League.  That kid is just out of everyone else’s league.  Case in point:

Sporty AND multi-lingual.  Thanks to Kirby for the link.

Speaking of multi-lingual, we’ve a couple shirts that did that pretty darn well.  First up, New Haven, CT went with my favorite color for a t-shirt: red.  You honestly cannot go wrong with red, PARTICULARLY when you cover it in a variety of languages:

Thanks to Deborah Freedman for the link.

Worthington Libraries may win the ribbon for Cutest Submission:

And this next one is such a good idea.  Just have a contest where the kids submit their designs and then turn the winner into t-shirts for one and all.  How crazy wonderful would it feel for the kid who got ALL the library employees to wear their design?  This one comes from the Beaumont Public Library System.

Thanks to Robin Smith for the link.

Carl of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library had a whole host of t-shirts to share from over the years.  For the sake of fairness, I’ve chosen only one.  As I’ve said before, it’s hard to go wrong with black:

And I never specified that the shirts had to be from this year, after all.  The Alamogordo Public Library of New Mexico came up with this shirt for last year’s superhero theme.  “They came in rainbow colors, or with white print on black.”

Thanks to Ami Jones for the picture.

And finally, we’re going to let this last one in, even though it was submitted by a publisher and technically isn’t a real t-shirt.  I’ll let Lara Starr explain:

“Christian Robinson created a lot of amazing art and objects for a joint summer reading program with San Francisco Public Library, Oakland Public Library and San Mateo County Library. Bookmarks! Badges! Bus Shelter Posters! BUT, they didn’t create Tshirts. BUT, that’s not gonna keep Chronicle Books from playin’!  I Project Runway-ed one of the SPFL’s totes into a kicky halter top modeled by Associate Marketing Manager Jaime Wong. The top features Leo and Jane, the main characters of Robinson’s book Leo.”

Chronicle Books.  Keepin’ it adorable.

Thanks for playing, everyone!

(but my library’s t-shirt is still the best)

Or is it?

Folks, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a library in possession of a summer reading program must produce a t-shirt of some kind.  And generally speaking, it is usually a walking eyesore.  Though I owe New York Public Library more than I can ever repay, I must confess that each and every summer I would receive my designated summer reading t-shirt.  It would be size XXXXXL (it’s much easier to give all staff employees a t-shirt if you just make it one-size-fits-all), usually white, and sporting a design that generally looked better on paper than on a living human body.

When I moved to Evanston, IL, I expected more of the same. What I got was this:

There were multiple sizes.  It was black (I still retain a New Yorker’s love for that slimming, you-can’t-see-dirt-on-me color).  The design was in red.  It was, to be frank, the most beautiful summer reading t-shirt I’d ever seen.

Which got me to thinking.  I just sort of took it for granted that, like a kind of penance to the library gods above, all summer reading shirts were supposed to be unattractive.  But maybe I was wrong from the start.

So here’s my challenge to you: Send me a picture of your summer reading shirt if it is more attractive than this one.  Then I’ll compile the results and create a Summer Reading T-Shirt Fashion Show.  Not only will this be a way you can give props to the design team of your local library, but it could give some libraries ideas for their own attractive summer reading t-shirt designs in the future.

All t-shirt designs may be sent to fusenumber8 at gmail dot com.  Looking forward to them!