Pets and Prizes Keep Kids Reading

Librarians at Reading Public Library have combined charity, pets and prizes to send the town's 3^rd through 5^th graders back to school equipped to learn.

The staff has signed up about 1,000 students this summer for the Library's annual "Reading in Reading" program. The program, this year built around a pet theme, encourages children up to fifth grade to read at least 20 minutes per day during summer vacation -- an activity that prevents students from losing skills due to academic idleness.

After summer break, teachers often spend as much as six weeks re-teaching skills lost from the previous school year, according to a 2006 study from the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, but the Center said staying mentally active can mitigate that loss.

To keep kids' brains active, Reading's librarians issue each participant a pair of score sheets -- one to leave at the library and one to take home. Their take-home sheet includes a seven-by-ten grid where they chart their progress in 20-minute increments.

For each seven-block row that participants complete, they stamp their in-library scorecard and enter a weekly drawing for prizes that include tickets to the Lowell Spinners, educational board games and PetCo gift cards. They also place a plastic coin in one of three jars representing three animal-centric charity groups.

At the end of the summer, said Corinne Fisher, Head of Children's Services for the library, the Reading Friends of the Library will donate a fixed amount of money across those charities, and use the kids' votes to determine the distribution.

In addition to preparing students for the fall, Fisher said, the program allows kids to read in a low-stress setting. Not only can they choose to read what they want, she said, but also nobody tests them on it.

"Some kids make a breakthrough (in reading) during the summer," Fisher said.

Children's Librarian Brenda Wettergreen added that the program nudges kids toward subjects that they might not find on their own. This year's suggested list of titles, for instance, includes a biography of primatologist Jane Goodall.