There have been times in my life when finding time to read for myself wasn’t easy. As an undergraduate and graduate school student it was a rarity to devour something mysterious, fun or intriguing; I was instead slogging through texts and the classics. Somehow even the best books become torture when they are assigned.
“Goodnight Moon,” Richard Scarry, and Mr. Rogers competed for my time while I busied away the days as a mother of young children. I didn’t have the common sense those days to allow myself a good book at bedtime; I was more focused at midnight on the laundry or getting the household ready to get to library story times in the morning. Even as a professional concerned with books and reading I often don’t have the time I really want to read what I want.
I’ve believed for some time now that we are actually reading more than ever. Our eyes are here to prove it as all of us reach for the large print versions at younger and younger ages. I read all day long and that isn’t true just for a librarian. Most of us are reading at everything we do and everywhere we go. Even television forces us to read the fine print along the “crawls” and tickers on the bottom, sides, and top of screens.
I don’t fret that we aren’t constantly honing our reading skills as adults when we are bombarded with mail and documents all day. What worries me is that enough of us aren’t finding reading easy.
Summertime is a perfect time to relax and allow ourselves more time to read. It certainly sets a great example for the children in our families. “No more teachers, no more books” isn’t the mantra we want to instill in the school-aged children who leave their backpack and reading skills at the school door. That’s called “summer setback,” or summer reading loss and it has been a concern for educators and librarians for generations.
Some believe that this three-month summer break can actually add up to a two-year reading gap during the critical skill-building years. Schools are actually finding that by demanding that students in elementary school read at home each night or morning, outside of the classroom, students are benefiting enormously.
Everyone profits from summer reading, most of all beginning readers. Finding novel ways to get books into the hands of children during the summer break has been the mission of the public library for years. Librarians know that the more children read, the better their fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension. Better readers enjoy reading. One of the problems with school-assigned reading is that readers are often assigned reading that is too difficult. While reaching beyond one’s comfort level has a place in an educational setting, reading for the fun of it should be the mission for summer reading.
The state’s regional library systems sponsor Summer Reading in Massachusetts for all children. This year the program is launching in mid-June with Starship Adventure@Your Library. The Boston Bruins are also teaming up with incentives and promotional activities.
The Morrill Memorial Library is gearing up for a summer with over 500 children registering for the program – an easier feat every year as we go green with the ReadsInMA.org Web site registration process. The best part about the Web interface is that children can read from anywhere.
My eldest daughter spent her whole summers reading from first grade on. What always amazed me was the fact that she brought many of her elementary favorites along with her everywhere we traveled even into high school. Roald Dahl’s “BFG” (or known as Big Friendly Giant) hung on among her summer reading collection that included Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” and Stephen King’s “Carrie.” I must admit my raised eyebrows annoyed her but she, as usual, knew what she was doing. Today she is an educational consultant, and not surprisingly, an extremely prolific reader who actually reads while she is walking to her ride on the T in Boston.
She learned the best lesson there is: that reading could be easy and fun, especially in the good old summertime.
Spend your summer reading. Margot Sullivan and Beth Goldman will be sure to give you loads of reading suggestions for summer. They will share Beach Reads in morning and afternoon sessions on July 9 at 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Be sure to encourage everyone you know, child and adult alike, to visit the library this summer for their favorite books. Call the library at 781-769-0200 and visit our Web site, www.norwoodlibrary.org.
Charlotte Canelli is library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood.
