More than 30 stuffed animals belonging to Brookline children spent a night at the library and then toured a working farm in Lincoln in mid-August, part of a summer reading event the Public Library of Brookline signaled it plans to repeat each year.

The Stuffed Animal Sleepover, organized by children's librarian Sasha Zeidenberg, asked kids to drop off their plush companions at the library for an overnight stay. The next morning, library staff loaded the stuffed animals into a car and drove them to Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, the 291-acre Massachusetts Audubon property in Lincoln where pigs, sheep, goats, chickens and cows share space with sustainably grown crops and native wildlife exhibits.

The trip was tied to the library's "Plant a Seed, Read!" summer reading theme for 2026.

Farm staff led the librarians and their plush charges on a full tour: the big red barn, zinnia fields, vegetable gardens, goat and sheep pens, a pond, greenhouses and Bird Hill, where resident raptors and barred owls perch. The stuffed animals even met Minnie the brown cow, Gloria the black-and-white cow and Boots the farm's resident fox.

The lineup read like a roll call from a child's imagination. Heart, Garfield, Totoro, Monchichi, Godzilla, Axolotl, Beluga, Killer Whale and two Labubu figures all made the trip. Two stuffed animals arrived with the same name, so they were rechristened Red Beary and Brown Beary to avoid mix-ups on the road.

In a blog post published Tuesday, Aug. 18, Zeidenberg wrote the recap in the voice of the stuffed animals themselves, narrating stops at the tractor, the blueberry bushes and the farm store. The post closes with a promise from the stuffed animals: "We can't wait to do it again next year somewhere new!"

The event fits a broader push at the library. In a mid-year review submitted to the Board of Library Trustees on June 26, Library Director Jill Mercurio wrote: "One of the greatest pleasures of joining the Public Library of Brookline has been witnessing the creativity and enthusiasm our staff bring to programming." She described summer reading as one of the library's most visible services.

No date or destination has been announced for a 2027 edition. Families interested in future summer reading events can check the library's website or visit any of its three locations: Coolidge Corner, Brookline Village and Putterham.