Kid: “I don’t want to come to Summer Reading Club because who wants to sit in a room and READ all summer?”
Parent: “My child is a reluctant reader, I am trying to encourage them to read more before I send them to Summer Reading Club.”
Jackie (the Children’s Librarian): “We actually don’t really do any reading during Summer Reading Club programming. We do crafts, play games, go on field trips, make LEGO, have fun!”
Everyone: “But then how is it literacy?!?!?!?!?!”
I have asked myself this question occasionally in the past. Call it imposter syndrome, but are the activities we host in the Nelson Library, such as Crafternoon and Summer Reading Club, really benefitting anyone and increasing literacy? All we do is have fun, often involving making a big mess.
But I had an epiphany, and confirmation that I was doing the right thing, with feedback I received from a parent last summer. The simple act of regularly coming to the library to have fun throughout the summer exponentially increased her family’s reading. Not only were the kids taking home books that they were excited about, the parents themselves got back into the habit of reading. It can be pretty hard to pass up that shiny pretty book on the New Books shelf when you walk by (and yes, we often DO judge a book by it’s cover. As a Professional Book Buyer I can say more often than not it is accurate. Book cover design is serious business).
Simply increasing the amount of time spent in the library can directly lead to increasing reading outside of the library. Encouraging children to form positive associations with libraries and allowing them to select their own reading material encourages life-long learning at the same time as fostering autonomy, responsibility and decision making skills.
Participating in Summer Reading Club is one small thing families can do over the summer months to reduce Summer Slide (the loss of learning that often happens over long school breaks) and get in to the habit of reading!
Summer Reading Club has two main components. The first is keeping track of your reading with a super cool Reading Record, and sticker incentives that can be collected after reaching reading goals. Since it is a B.C.-wide program, you can also collect stickers when visiting other libraries across the province. Participants who complete their booklets will get a real medal at the end of the summer. Reading Records are now available to anyone at anytime, just ask at the front desk of the Nelson Library.
The second component of Summer Reading Club are free in-person programs for school-aged children (6-12 years old). Caregivers will be able to drop off their children for activities, crafting, field trips, guests, and literacy (while the adults get some much-needed chore and rest time). This year, pre-registration is required to participate in the drop-off activities. But we have arranged for more programs with three weekly activities from July 4 to Aug. 15: Tuesdays 10 to 11:30 a.m., 1:30 to 3 p.m., and Thursdays 10 a.m. to noon.
Online registration for Summer Reading Club programming will be open from June 28-30. The link will be shared on our website, social media, and as a QR code on posters in the library. Once you have registered you will be included on email blasts with details to sign-up for the individual weekly events.
We have arranged two special events that are open to anyone, no registration necessary. Local author Caroline Woodward will join us for a reading on Saturday, July 20, starting at 10:30 a.m., and magician Leif David will make his return to the Nelson Library on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at 10:30 a.m.
Stay tuned for more information. We will be sharing updates via social media as well as on the library website’s events page (www.nelsonlibrary.ca) See you in the library!
Jackie Barber is children’s services librarian at the Nelson Public Library. Check This Out appears monthly.
