{"id":44517,"date":"2023-06-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=44517"},"modified":"2023-06-15T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T10:00:00","slug":"holden-librarys-summer-reading-program-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2023\/06\/15\/holden-librarys-summer-reading-program-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Holden library\u2019s Summer Reading program returns"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Ken Cleveland <\/b>
\n Landmark Correspondent<\/i><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 Every summer brings vacations, sunshine and the Gale Free Kids Summer Reading Program, which itself brings a vacation into the world of books.<\/p>\n

The eight-week program, however, includes \u201ca schedule of performances, crafts, and story times to entice families to check in every week and keep their kids reading through the summer,\u201d according to Kevin McDonough, head children\u2019s librarian.<\/p>\n

Open to children aged 2 to 18, the program runs through Aug. 23, with sign-ups beginning June 23, and features a focus on expression and weekly activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2022, Gale Free Kids had almost 700 kids enrolled in our \u2018Oceans of Possibilities\u2019 program, the highest participation rate we\u2019ve ever had. This year, with underwriting from the Friends of the Library, we present \u2018Find Your Voice,\u2019 a summer of exploring new ideas and expressing oneself. Our children\u2019s room will be made over to look like a \u2018zine,\u2019 and families will be asked to add their own art and writing to the walls throughout the summer,\u201d McDonough said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince our theme is about self-expression, we want the room to be an explosion of kid-made art. Every week the look of the room will change as everyone adds their images and writing to the display. Also, we\u2019ll have a weekly art station where kids will be able to make their own bookmarks, buttons, and add custom stickers and other materials to their summer journal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never done anything this interactive before. When kids sign up, they will be given a journal and colored pencil set with the summer logo, along with a reading log and bingo card. Kids record their reading in 15-minute increments and come in once a week to record their hours and get a prize,\u201d McDonough said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK if kids aren\u2019t reading yet \u2014 parents of toddlers and preschoolers can count how many minutes they have read to their kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teens can also participate and will have a different set of prizes from the younger kids. Also, for every three hours of reading, kids get a custom \u201cCrazy Voices\u201d button, with six buttons to collect. There will be free new books for every kid who gets a bingo on the library\u2019s custom bingo categories game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a summer of swag,\u201d McDonough said. \u201cThe prizes are a great enticement for kids to come back every week. We love to see all these families. Part of the summer fun for the library staff is that we get to know the kids who check in, learn their names, learn what they like to read, and hear what they\u2019re doing for summer fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Holden Cultural Council is again underwriting the performance series, with Rick Goldin\u2019s Teddy Bear Picnic, singer Rene Coro, magician Mike Bent, Tanglewood Marionettes \u201cCinderella,\u201d and Trevor the Games Man with stilt walking, juggling and parachute games.<\/p>\n

Also this year, the Holden Woman\u2019s Club is sponsoring \u201cDrum to the Beat with Otha Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interactive program gets everyone \u2014 parents and kids \u2014 to pick up a drum and add their beats to what we hope will be the biggest drum circle ever,\u201d he said, with Otha Day bringing instruments so that everyone can participate.<\/p>\n

The Holden Police, Fire and Department of Public Works will once again show up with their vehicles July 6 for Truck Day, which McDonough said was the most popular of the library\u2019s yearly events.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had more than 500 people show up for Truck Day last summer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd LEGO heads, we\u2019re once again hosting outdoor LEGO club to build pieces for our Big G Amusement Park, the biggest LEGO display of the year. We\u2019re also asking kids to create LEGO Habitats for the room, little interior scenes that feature one minifig and stack together like a puzzle. It\u2019s another element to our summer of self expression,\u201d McDonough said.<\/p>\n

He said there will be several scavenger hunts both inside and outside on the lawn.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur most requested game, the rock hunt, has all new characters this year and will be out on the lawn starting in June.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the events are held outside on the library lawn. For the full listing go to www.galefreelibrary. org and go to the kids summer page.<\/p>\n

\u201cSummer reading programs were started in response to the reality of the \u2018summer slide,\u2019 \u201d McDonough said, citing research first done in 1996 that shows a measurable loss in reading and math skills during summer break. The loss is cumulative; kids begin the new school year with learning deficits that continue to grow year after year.<\/p>\n

A more recent study of third- to fifth-graders showed on average a 20% loss in reading skills and a 27% loss in math skills over one summer, he said. By the time a struggling reader gets to middle school, the summer slide can accumulate to a two-year lag in reading achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdd this to the learning losses accrued over the two years of pandemic disruption in K-12 schooling, and it becomes more important than ever to keep kids reading and learning throughout the summer,\u201d McDonough said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic libraries play an important role in reversing the summer slide with summer reading programs that build excitement around books and learning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOLDEN \u2014 Every summer brings vacations, sunshine and the Gale Free Kids Summer Reading Program, which itself brings a vacation into the world of books. The eight-week program, however, includes \u201ca schedule of performances, crafts, and story times to entice families to check in every week and keep their kids reading through the summer,\u201d according to Kevin McDonough, head children\u2019s librarian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}