Contact: Your Name
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(YOUR TOWN, NY) – The (your library name) has completed another successful summer reading program designed to help area children discover the pleasure of reading. This year’s theme, Catch the Reading Bug! , encouraged local children and teens (if you want to use this document to promote your teen program, use the theme Metamorphosis @ Your Library) to explore music, the arts and (whatever else you did in your program). The library provided an interesting array of books, magazines, videos, CDs, programs, crafts, performers and fun for young people of all ages.
At (name of library) (number of children participating) children had fun reading (number of books read) books. With the average cost of a children’s book at $21.19, the library provided the community with the equivalent of (# of books x # of children taking part) in enrichment services. Add to that the average cost of a children’s performer at $300 and you can see the value to the (name of your town) community of the local summer reading program. Because library programs and materials are available to all children, families across all socioeconomic levels can take part.
When children are free to choose their own reading materials,
wonderful things happen! Often children who are resistant to reading assigned
books during the school year find a topic of interest to them and read books
or magazines over the summer. These free voluntary reading experiences encourage
children to spend increased time with books. (Celano, Donna and Susan B. Neuman.
The Role of Public Libraries in Children's Literacy Development: An Evaluation
Report. Pennsylvania Library Association, 2001) Studies have shown that
the more free voluntary reading is practiced, the more consistent and positive
the results. People who read more write better and their comprehension, vocabulary
and reading speed increases; one study found that if children read one million
words a year, at least one thousand words will be added to their vocabulary.
(Krashen, Stephen. The Power of Reading. Libraries Unlimited. 1993.)
Studies also show that children have greater learning losses in both math and
reading over the summer months. Those who are brought to the library for programs
and book borrowing will reenter school in the fall with much less loss in reading
skills than their counterparts who did not enjoy the local library. In the elementary
grades, a summer loss of 3 months accumulates to become a gap of 18 months by
the end of 6th grade. By middle school, summer reading loss…produces a cumulative
lag of two or more years in reading achievement, even when effective instruction
during the school year is available. (McGill-Franzen, Anne and Richard Allington.
"Lost Summers: For Some Children, Few Books and Few Opportunities to
Read." Classroom Leadership August 2001. The Center for Summer Learning
at Johns Hopkins University.)
Public libraries and the programs they sponsor are made possible by a combination of local, county, state and federal funding. The value of these dollars is multiplied many times over by making it possible for the whole community to share materials. Your support for library funding makes these services possible. Please visit us at the library and on our website at (give your url here).
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