Thanks to the Oxford Public Library hundreds of kids continued reading and learning over summer vacation, and had fun doing it.
An impressive 424 children ages 3? to 11 registered for the library’s Kids Summer Reading Program this year and read a whopping 2,970 hours ? the equivalent of 123? days.
The top three readers were Jessica Ojeda, 9, who read 127 hours; Kyle Jeffery, 7, who read 123 hours; and Kasie Jeffery, 3?, who read and was read to for 91 hours.
Of the 424 kids who participated, 259 of them read at least one hour this summer.
For each hour they read, the kids got to choose a small prize or toy from a ‘treasure chest.?
Participants in the Teen Summer Reading Program completed 1,887 reading-relating activities or tasks such as reading to someone for an half-hour, writing a book review, reading a magazine cover-to-cover or an entire cereal box, and attending a teen program at the library.
Each task the teens completed earned them an entry in weekly drawings for small prizes.
Sixty of the teen participants completed at least one reading activity/task, while 50 completed at least 15 tasks, enough to qualify for the grand prize drawing.
The drawing was won by 12-year-old Nikki Rich, who received a $100 U.S. Savings Bond donated by Oxford Bank.
Charli Osborne, the library’s Head of Teen Services, said the Summer Reading Program is important for the younger children because it helps them retain their reading skills when school’s not in session.
As for the teens, she said it gives them the ‘incentive to keep reading.?
‘Once they hit sixth grade, they’re really not as interested in the library as they were when they were younger,? Osborne said. ‘They have other activities like sports and jobs. It’s more difficult to juggle their lives.?
The Summer Reading Program helps them ‘realize the library is not just for school work. They can also have fun here,? she said.