Library’s Summer Reading Program Kicks Off Today

Summer is a great time to catch up on reading, and to encourage doing so the  will launch its summer reading program today. The theme of this year's program is “One World, Many Stories.”

The theme of this year's program is designed to help children learn more about people and traditions in other countries. The program is free and no registration is necessary, said Robin Rotherham, the library director. Participants simply need to pick up a time log. They should also have a library membership.

Rotherham explained that children who participate in the program are asked to read for at least one hour a week. They are given a time log in which they can cross out 15 minute increments of reading time. If they reach the one hour goal by the end of the week, they will receive a prize, she said. The weekly prizes are an incentive to children to participate, she admitted.

With the world as the theme, this year’s prizes include Earth-shaped slinkies, rubber duckies dressed in costumes from around the world, fun bands shaped like countries and race cars. Of course, there will be children that read more than one hour a week, Rotherham noted. But their additional reward will be what they gain from reading.

Children who are too young to read can also participate. They just need to have someone read to them, she said.

“It’s a very exciting program,” said Johanna Price, a library assistant and retired elementary school teacher. “I think they’ll enjoy the activities that we have planned.”

In addition to prizes, the library has added some special events to its summer schedule. The reading program will officially kick off on June 24, with a magic show titled “Magic Around the World” performed by Tom Yurasitz, Rotherham said. There will also be craft days, hopscotch, and pre-school and kindergarten through second grade story times. “World Jeopardy” for teenagers and two family movie nights are also planned, she said.

One of the movies to be shown is “Madagascar” and the other one hasn’t yet been announced.

On July 27, children will have the opportunity to build a bubble-powered rocket as part of what Price called a family-oriented type of program.

“It’s always great to see children so motivated to read,” she said.

Rotherham said her favorite part of organizing and administering the summer reading program is seeing the happiness in the children’s faces when they reach their summer reading goal.

“The kids are so proud of their accomplishments at the end of the summer,” she said.

The program is part of a statewide collaborative summer reading initiative, Price said. The library is provided catalogs full of ideas and products for creating a program appropriate for their library, she said.

Price said her greatest joy is in seeing the children’s enthusiasm for reading.

The library has offered the summer reading program for 11 years, Rotherham said. Last year, they had 150 children participate in the program with a total of about 3,000 pages read during the summer, she said.

“Enrollment has increased every year,” Rotherham said.

New this summer is an adult reading program, she added. After a person finishes a book, all he or she needs to do is submit a book review to the library. The forms for reviews are available at the circulation desk. Each time a book review is turned in, that person’s name will be entered in a drawing, Rotherham said. The adult program prize is a gift card to , a restaurant at The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley.

The library is located at 409 Constitution Avenue in Hellertown. For more information about the summer reading program, check out their website at www.hellertownlibrary.org or call 610-838-8381.