CONTRIBUTED

Do you have dreams about falling into a vat of melted chocolate? Would you walk a mile on your knees in the snow for a few M&Ms?

"If so, then Southern Pines Public Library has a summer reading destination you shouldn't miss," says a library spokesperson.

Local chocolatier Carole Huettig, of "Carole's Chocolates," will be at the library Sunday, July 17, at 3 p.m. as part of "Novel Destinations," the library's adult summer reading program. The free event will feature a sampling of gourmet chocolates, followed by a book discussion of the novel "Chocolat," by Joanne Harris. In the novel, single mother Vianne opens a chocolaterie in a small town in France, and her chocolates have almost magical effects on the local townspeople.

Huettig believes she was destined to become a chocolatier. Thirty years ago, a love of chocolate, an eye for detail and a flair for cooking prompted her to take a chocolatiering class.

"I soon discovered that this affinity for chocolate was actually in my genes," Huettig says, referring to her great-grandfather, a chocolatier who owned and operated his own candy store in New Jersey for many years.

In 2010, she turned her beloved hobby and expertise into a joint business venture with Keith and Georganne McDaniel of Green Gate Olive Oils, in Pinehurst, creating unique, assorted balsamic cream-filled chocolate bonbons and olive oil-infused chocolate barks. A North Carolina Department of Agriculture certified home processor, Huettig also currently provides an assortment of chocolate confections to four other retailers.

In addition to the chocolate sampling program, the library will present two free showings of the movie based on the novel "Chocolat" Sunday, July 31, and Thursday, Aug. 11, at 2:30 p.m. The 2001 film stars Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp and Judi Dench, and was nominated for five Oscar awards.

"It's not too late to pick up a summer reading passport at Southern Pines Library, travel to the three destinations, and win a sweet prize," says a library spokesperson. The three "destinations" required to win the prize are to read the novel "Chocolat," to attend the chocolate sampling and book discussion on July 17, and to attend one of the two movie showings. Multiple copies of the novel are currently available for checkout at the library.

All library programs, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, are free and open to the public. For more information call the library at (910) 692-8235.