Schools

5-Year-Old Reads 3,000 Books at Hellertown Library

Luke McGloughlin, of Lower Saucon Township, recently accomplished his personal goal of reading 3,000 books to himself at the Hellertown Area Library. The 5-year-old attends kindergarten at Saucon Valley Elementary School.

In his young life, Luke McGloughlin of Lower Saucon Township has taken to reading in a way that few adults will--and he's proud to tell others about it.

The 5-year-old just started kindergarten at , but over the summer he was a regular visitor at the , where his goal was to read 3,000 books to himself.

"Back in the spring, Luke decided he wanted to read 'every book in the library,' because he hoped to be in the news," library director Robin Rotherham said in an email. "He quickly became the best customer at the Hellertown Area Library, reading stacks of books and then checking out 50 or so at a time."

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Luke, his mom Julie, and Luke's stuffed toy dog, Spot, have become familiar faces in the children's area of the libary, where many of his favorite books are about superheroes.

"His quest has taken him through the entire juvenile picture book collection alphabetically, and a fair number of children’s chapter books too," Rotherham explained.

Find out what's happening in Hellertown-Lower Sauconwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Julie said she's "amazed" at how Luke has taken both to reading and goal-setting.

He began reading when he was about three, and quickly fell in love with the pastime.

"He likes to identify with the characters," Julie said. "When he reads a book he'll tell you which one is him."

She stressed that her son has never been pressured to read.

"We were teaching my daughter and we just noticed he could read," she recalled.

Luke, who has an older sister named Sophia, said he was excited to begin kindergarten.


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