Summer reading important to children’s education
By Robin Quinn
Hastings Memorial Library Librarian
As summer draws to a close, we thought it would be a perfect time to review Hastings Memorial Library’s 2022 Summer Reading Program successes. This year’s theme was “Oceans of Possibilities”, and it gave us the opportunity to explore and learn a lot of really cool things related to water, the ocean, and the environment. During the month of June, librarians held 7 programs a week, encompassing everyone from toddlers to pre-teens. We had 90 kids enrolled and our total attendance numbers for those 28 programs totaled 244 children and 66 adults.
In addition to weekly programming, the library also held a Reading Challenge for kids to participate in. Each child set an individual, weekly goal of books, pages, or minutes to read. Each week, they brought their log books in to the library to chart their progress and choose a prize from the library’s treasure box. Participants were also eligible to visit a local sponsoring business to receive an additional prize at Blume, HomeTown Agency, In and Out, and Kwik Stop.
Logging four weeks of reading was required in order to finish the program, and out of the 64 children who participated in the Reading Challenge, 61% at least 4 weeks, and 19% logged their reading for all 8 weeks of the program! If you think that’s amazing, wait until you see the numbers for what they read. Remember, each of these categories is a separate count because they had to choose to log either books, pages, or minutes. This summer, Perkins County youth read:
• 2,787 books
• 45,437 pages and
• 6,007 minutes, which is over 100 hours of reading time!
The Summer Reading Program is important not only as an entertainment and recreational option, but it serves an important educational purpose as well. Studies have shown that students experience significant learning loss when they do not participate in educational activities during the summer months. Summer reading loss is cumulative, meaning these children do not typically catch up in the fall. Their peers are progressing with their skills while they are making up for the summer learning loss. By the end of sixth grade, children who lose reading skills during the summer are, on average, two years behind their peers. In addition, teachers spend an average of four-six weeks re-teaching material that students have lost during the summer. Reading just 4-5 books over the course of the summer can prevent a decline in a child’s fall reading scores.
Library summer programs are focused on hands-on, STEM based learning activities which promote problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity. We also have a long-standing partnership with Nebraska Extension 4H Extension Educator Debbie Kuenning, whose knowledge and expertise is an essential part of our programming success. These programs bring kids into the library. While they are here, they can choose any books they want to read, and families often make a point of visiting the library during the summer, browsing, reading, and just spending time together.
There are always “Oceans of Possibilities” for all ages available at Hastings Memorial Library. While Youth Summer Reading has come to a close, our teen and adult reading programs are still swimming along through Sept. 16! All you have to do to participate is read. Visit the library today for details and to learn more about all that we have to offer.