Why Do Summer Reading?

As I mentioned in my previous post, Portland District Library kicked off summer reading last week with a presentation by the Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary. We are starting a bit late this summer since Portland's schools had a month of snow days this past winter.

In addition to offering fun, drop-in programs we give all of the kids take home reading logs. If they read so many books per week or minutes per day (we let them choose which goal works best for their reading level) they can earn prizes. Portland is very fortunate to have local businesses donate coupons for free ice cream, kid's meals, video rentals, etc.

The first big question is why do librarians work so hard to get kids coming to the library over the summer? After all, planning and prepping summer reading requires weeks and weeks of work. Once summer finally arrives it is stressful, hectic, and loonier than the Mad Hatter's Tea party.

Yep, this is me!

Well, I cannot speak for every librarian, but I believe that the majority of people who work with books have a passion for reading that they want to share. Summer Reading gives us the opportunity to instill this same passion in children and, hopefully, make them life-long readers and patrons of the library.

Personally, I get super geeked when kids come into the library with their reading logs. Sure, children are happy to get a prize, but they are also eager to talk about the books that they have read and proud of meeting their reading goal.  For someone like me who doesn't just love books, but is obsessed with them, seeing kids excited about reading is AWESOME!!!

So now that you know why librarians are doing back flips through the stacks about summer reading let's move on to the second big question. Why should you (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone else who cares about education in our country) be ecstatic about summer reading (and reading during those other three seasons too).

Many of you have probably heard the term summer slide, which refers to the loss of spelling, reading, and math skills that school aged children experience over summer vacation

The old adage "use it or lose it" seems to hold true, because unless kids are engaged in some form of educational activities over the summer they will fall backward.

The most disheartening fact is that  kids from lower income homes and areas are even more susceptible to summer slide.

In 2010 Time Magazine published an article called "The Case Against Summer Vacation" in which the author  discusses the issue of summer slide and it's higher impact on poorer children.  Much of this is believed to be because lower income school districts and families do not have the same resources available during the summer that wealthier families and communities have.


 
I highly recommend reading the article, because it is incredibly interesting and inspiring how so many groups are volunteering time and money to provide quality summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged youth.

However, I wish that the author would have mentioned that libraries in every state offer free and fun reading programs to all children, whether they are poor, wealthy, or somewhere in between.

As you can see from this graphic just having that access to books can make a huge, huge, huge difference in a child's potential. 

I am going to insert a plug here to encourage you to support libraries when you vote. It is so incredibly important for kids to have access to books and many libraries are hurting (especially in poorer areas).

If you are interested here is another great article on stopping summer slide and the National Summer Learning Association website is a boon of information too.

If you are thinking: My kids are not even school yet so why should I care about summer learning? Well, they will be in school someday so don't you want to start them down the right track now? There is so much information and research about the importance of early literacy. Put simply kids that grow up loving books and reading with parents and caregivers will do better in school and even beyond school. Don't believe me? Take a look at some of these websites: Reading is Fundamental,  Get Ready to Read, Zero to Three, or Reading Rockets (to name a few).

Reading should not just be about doing better in school, though. It is about children thinking, feeling and imagining and that is why I hope that all kids will participate in summer reading and continue to make reading an important part of their lives.