500 kids participate in reading program

By Jim Newell
Review Editor
ORION TWP. — The Orion Township Public Library held its Summer Reading Finale on Saturday, treating families to a magic show and raffle prizes for all the great work they did reading over the summer.
But the real magic was that around 500 kids participated in the Summer Reading Program, experiencing the joy of reading, completing library-related tasks and keeping their minds sharp over summer break.
Librarian Ashley Lehman, head of youth services, said it’s great to see kids, and adults, actively participate in the Summer Reading Program.
“It was great. It is lower than last year but we changed our format. We had a lot of people who signed up who actually participated. We had a lot more active readers this year,” Lehman said.
This year the library transitioned the Summer Reading Program to Beanstack, an online platform where participants marked off a bingo square for every task they completed. Once they completed a bingo card they were rewarded with a prize, such as a free book, and entered into the raffle for additional prizes.
While summer break is a great time for kids to get outside and engage in activities, it’s also imperative to read in order to keep up good habits and avoid the dreaded “summer slide.”
“We want to make sure there’s no ‘summer slide’ – a dropping back in knowledge over the summer. At the library, we promote the joy of reading, reading for pleasure and as long as they’re doing that they’ll continue to learn and grow,” Lehman said.
The kids who participated in the reading program are excited about visiting the library, getting books and attending the Summer Reading Kickoff and Summer Reading Finale events. And prizes help, too.
“The raffle prizes are the big draw, and they like to get that notification that they’ve won a prize or earned a badge,” Lehman said.
The kids earned raffle tickets by reading 600 minutes throughout the summer, Lehman said. The prizes are purchased through funds from grants and the Orion Township Friends of the Library donate to the library for programming.
“We did Green Hippo gifts (in Lake Orion) and Funky Monkey in Oxford, so we like to stay local when purchasing those gifts,” Lehman said.
And even though the Summer Reading Program is over, there’s always something at the library to grab kids’ attention, from weekly story times to evening and weekend activities.
“We have a lot of programs that run throughout the year. We don’t stop at the end of our Summer Reading program, we keep going. There’s after school and weekend programs as well,” Lehman said. “We have summer programs through the end of August and then we’ll transition to a lot more school (programs).”
For information on programs at the library, visit the Orion Township Public Library at 825 Joslyn Rd. or online at orionlibrary.org.