While the total number of participating youth declined compared to last year, more kids actually completed the reading program. Despite the lower number of kids signed up for the program, families still kept reading and more kids completed the plan and read more books than ever before. It is inspiring to know that lots of families were motivated to continue reading throughout the summer, even without the incentives. The chapter club, initiated by Children's Services Librarian Cheryl Sylvester, involved kids going into fourth grade and older.
Students read and discussed three classic adventure books for three weeks each.
The lunch-time book discussions, which included a free lunch courtesy of seven local restaurants, were no doubt fun and enlightening for the youth. It is encouraging to see older kids make the choice to keep reading during the summer, despite a multitude of other offerings in the community. The kids who enrolled in the program clearly wanted to be in the program. More than 43 percent of the participants read either 20 or more books or 1,200 or more pages. More than 35 of those participants read more than 50 books and another 43 students read more than 100 books.