CLARKS SUMMIT — It was a day like most others at the Abington Community Library. Some patrons browsed book shelves in search of a good read, others sat at the computer stations making use of the free internet access and a group of adults sat around tables playing Scrabble.

Then it appeared.

A flash of something big, blue and furry darted through the reference section.

There it was again — peering over shoulders at a computer station.

“What is that thing?” some may have wondered. “A bear? A bull? An alien?”

It was Champ, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ mascot, who visited the library on July 30 to make new friends and check out the ZooMobile presentation by Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park in the children’s room.

For the most part, the sometimes mischievous “bleacher creature” behaved himself but when Sandy Longo, library director and head of public services, asked, “Are you here to make trouble?” he enthusiastically shook his head yes, swiping the librarian’s cell phone off her desk and pretending to throw it in the trash can.

Champ soon redeemed himself, however, putting smiles on the faces of a group of children that came to meet him.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders mascot Champ crashes a game of Scrabble at the Abington Community Library. From left, Kathleen Williams, Cathy Rachkowski, Champ, Vicki Thiel and Mike Shorrocks.
http://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_ABJ-Champ-1.jpg.optimal.jpgScranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders mascot Champ crashes a game of Scrabble at the Abington Community Library. From left, Kathleen Williams, Cathy Rachkowski, Champ, Vicki Thiel and Mike Shorrocks. Elizabeth Baumeister | Abington Journal

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders mascot Champ greets Abington Community Library patron Shari Morris at one of the library’s computer stations.
http://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_ABJ-Champ-2.jpg.optimal.jpgScranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders mascot Champ greets Abington Community Library patron Shari Morris at one of the library’s computer stations. Elizabeth Baumeister | Abington Journal

Champ, from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, pauses to flip through an atlas during a visit to the Abington Community Library.
http://www.theabingtonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_ABJ-Champ-3.jpg.optimal.jpgChamp, from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, pauses to flip through an atlas during a visit to the Abington Community Library. Elizabeth Baumeister | Abington Journal

By Elizabeth Baumeister

ebaumeister@timesleader.com

Reach Elizabeth Baumeister at 570-704-3943 or on Twitter @AbingtonJournal