NPL - Flipbook - Page 19
SP OTLIGHT
Summer Reading Challenge
“Summer slide” might sound like fun, but
it’s actually what we at the library call the
loss of reading and cognitive skills that
occurs when children don’t read over
the summer. This loss is cumulative, and
children who lose those reading skills
can be as much as two years behind their
classmates by the end of the sixth grade.
However, studies show reading just four
or five books over the summer can make
a big difference. Nashville Public Library
wants to turn the tables on summer slide.
Through our Summer Reading Challenge,
we aim to make summertime a time for
practicing reading skills, not losing them.
Participants in the Summer Challenge log
reading time and participate in learning
activities to earn points toward fun prizes.
Those who log 600 minutes of reading,
about 20 minutes a day, earn the coveted
status of Reading Rock Star.
It is encouraging to me
when I hear my 11-year old
granddaughter use words
that I had no idea she
knew or even understood.
My grandson, a junior in high
school, always has a book in his
hand and has a couple in his
backpack. Reading will never
be a lost art in our family. And
awarding prizes is genius – who
doesn’t want to win a prize?
Carol, Summer Reading
Challenge participant
This summer, 18,000 children, teens, and
adults read for a grand total of 12 million
minutes, and 11,000 participants read
their way to rock stardom.
The Summer Reading Challenge is a
flexible program, engaging people of all
ages, from infancy to adulthood. Being
read to by a grown-up is just as important
for little ones as independent reading for
older children, and we encourage adult
participants to read to a child in their life.
The library also creates Summer Reading
Challenge resources in multiple languages
and provides free books and programs at
outreach locations in the community, so
everyone can have a chance to be a rock
star. Summer slide? Not on our watch.
2017— 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
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