About Summer Reading
Summer Reading is a program that entices children to read when school is not in session and encourages them to become lifelong library users. Research shows that the reading skills a student gains during the school year are lost if he or she does not read during the summer. Nearly 56,000 babies, children and teens registered for the Summer Reading program in 2007, making it one of the largest in the nation. Over 50% of elementary school students in Multnomah County participated in the program.
This program reaches children from birth through age 18. Parents and children track reading progress using a game that challenges any level reader. Summer Reading works by encouraging children to set goals, choose books, and reach reading milestones with the help of their parents or with library staff or volunteers. The program relies on the work of more than 500 volunteers each year – a majority of whom are teenagers.
Summer Reading helps children retain or improve reading skills that can be lost when school is not in session. Research – for example, recent research by Jimmy Kim at Harvard University – proves that reading over the summer is essential to maintaining literacy gains made during the school year. Findings by literacy experts also show that independent, self-directed reading – reading done outside of school assignments solely because the child wants to – is vital to the development of a child's literacy skills. Summer Reading provides just that kind of skill-building experience.
A survey of more than 1,000 parents in 2007 shows that the program is making a considerable difference. Parents say because of Summer Reading, their children read more and are better at it:
- 83% of parents agree their children read more this summer because of the program
- 88% agree their children's reading skills improved thanks to the program
- 91% agree the program made their children more excited about reading
- Parents of children who struggle with reading report the most positive difference. Nearly all (94%) of parents whose children are challenged readers say the program made their children read more.
These evaluation results support the library's aggressive plan to extend the Summer Reading program to reach even more children, particularly those who have reading challenges.
The Summer Reading program has grown nearly tenfold since The Library Foundation began supporting the program's expansion with private funds. For more information on supporting Summer Reading, contact information@libraryfoundation.org