Community Corner
Summer Reading Program Begins
Read books, win prizes! "Dig Into Reading" is the theme for this year's Summer Reading Club for elementary school-aged children and younger, while "Beneath the Surface" is the theme for middle school-aged children and up.
The annual Summer Reading Program kicked off at all Baltimore County Public Library branches yesterday and coordinators hope to break last year’s record of 48,539 participants by Aug. 10.
This year’s theme is underground, with BCPL's branches offering a wide variety of programs throughout the summer that are underground-related, including The Fossil Guy and Dig Those Dinosaurs.
The Summer Reading Program is a nationwide cooperative library project that aims to prevent summer reading loss, “which occurs when students fail to read over the summer resulting in a loss of the reading skills they've acquired over the past school year,” the library writes.
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“Reading just four to five books over the summer months can contribute significantly to the retention of reading abilities necessary to advance in the following academic year,” according to the BCPL.
How It Works:
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Sign up online or at your local branch. Club materials will be available for pick-up at branches beginning today, June 17.
Elementary school-aged and younger participants will receive a game board with 16 activities or spaces.
Each time they complete four activities or read four books, they can go to their local branch and get a sticker.
When they complete all 16 activities, they can choose a completion prize: a pirate-themed beach ball, a monster projection pen, an LED glow wand or a light-up spinning top.
Middle school-aged participants read books and fill out raffle slips indicating which of several raffles they would like to enter. Raffle prizes include gift cards from Best Buy, AMC Theaters and Target, an iPod shuffle and more.
Children who are not yet old enough to read can still participate. The Read-to-Me Summer Reading Club is for ages birth to age 5. This year, BCPL has a variety of books for the birth to 5-year-old age range.
Too old for the Summer Reading Program? Check out the Goodreads high school and adult program from today to Aug. 10, during which you can post a review in the BCPL Summer Reading Group to become eligible to win prizes.
Other summer programs at BCPL branches include 3D with UMBC for teens at Arbutus and Pikesville, Small Steps for adults at Arbutus and more.
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