MARION — The Elizabeth Taber Library’s new children’s librarian will be a familiar face to some.

Moving from assistant children’s librarian at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library to children’s librarian in Marion, Heather Hudnall-Ripley said she’s happy to be able to stay close to the community she grew fond of in Mattapoisett.

“It’s a very close community,” she said. “Here, I didn’t have to leave anybody.”

A summer full of concerts, petting zoos and high-flying, frisbee-catching dogs is ahead for Hudnall-Ripley and the Elizabeth Taber Library. And so far, she said it’s been going great.

“It’s wonderful. It’s been fun,” Hudnall-Ripley said.

The children’s librarian said she’s always wanted to foster a “love for learning” in kids.

“And I really wanted to help keep that into their adulthood,” she said.

Hudnall-Ripley starts the learning early, too. She said she tries to advocate that children read 1,000 books before they reach kindergarten.

“Which sounds scary, but it’s not hard to do,” she said.

Some of that frear may be taken away by using alternate methods of reading, like audiobooks or graphic novels.

“Graphic novels are great,” Hudnall-Ripley said. “I read a lot of graphic novels.”

She said the accessibility of those other forms of reading can help foster a love for reading and learning.

“Especially with kids who have a harder time,” she said, with text-only books.

Hudnall-Ripley said she’s looking forward to getting to know the Marion community as the library reopens to the public.

“Everyone’s excited to be back in the library,” she said, adding that some are stockpiling books because they’re unsure when they’ll be able to return to the library.

But with the library open for readers young and old, there are activities to fill the whole summer — most of which are designed to be fun, easy and animal-themed.

“It’s been a hard school year,” Hudnall-Ripley said. “So just some fun this summer.”