Cochranites running out of ideas for outdoor activities for the kids this summer have a good rainy day option coming soon, courtesy of the Cochrane Public Library.
The popular summer reading club is back, running from July 3 to Aug. 17 for ages six to 12.
There will also be drop-in stations at the library every Friday afternoon from 1 pm to 4 pm.
Adding to the allure of the program is the cost – it’s free.
The theme this year is “Expedition Summer”, an exploration of adventure books across genres.
Conceived in the spirit of exploration, the program is designed to take readers on a trip around the world through reading.
Assistant director of the library Jesse Pepin said the summer fun reading program also has an important side effect for this age group.
“Starting in elementary school, you learn how to read in kindergarten and Grade 1 and then between Grade 3 and 4, there’s a bit of a transition where you’re reading to learn other things, so having that strong skill base before Grade 3 is integral,” she said.
That base is what allows children to keep up with the pace of learning from Grade 3 onwards.
Over July and August, if children don’t read, they can suffer from what Pepin called “the summer slide.”
“Even just that 15 minutes a day, making sure they’re still reading at their grade level, will make sure they’re ready to go in September,” she said.
Sydney Stene is the summer reading club coordinator, who loves working with kids, and plans on going on to a career in education after she completes her schooling at the University of Lethbridge.
She stressed the importance of nurturing a love of literacy at an early age.
“I loved coming to the library as a kid, I was a very avid reader, so it was something I had a love for,” she said.
“It was the exploration of different stories by different people with different life experiences.”
Both Stene and Pepin cited Anne of Green Gables as the first book they remember sparking their love of reading as kids.
Pepin said the Dog Man series is flying off the shelves for the six to 12-years-of-age group (as evidenced by the fact one couldn’t be found).
Children will have the opportunity to participate in crafts, activities, games, and more, all while encouraging and inspiring them to keep reading during the summer months.
They’ll also receive a free reading logbook, where they will be able to track their time spent with their noses between the pages.
Their summer reading club leaders will convert their tracked reading time into kilometres “travelled”, and the library’s goal is to have the whole program reach 400.75 hours of reading (or 40,075 kilometres) – enough to circumnavigate the globe.
Participants will also have the opportunity to win prizes at the end of the program, drawn for at the "Expedition Summer" wrap-up on Aug. 18.
The library will offer six registered summer reading club sessions. Readers 12 and under will have the chance to track their reading independently and win prizes in the take-home summer reading badge challenge, and there will also be a kick-off event at the library on June 30.
Parents or guardians can register their children at cochranepubliclibrary.ca/events.
The program is supported by Cochrane Kiwanis.
