As a mother and children’s librarian, I have always been a strong advocate of summer reading programs, but I never knew the nuts and bolt, the dollars and cents value of a summer reading program. Last year, I came across Steve Brown’s article entitled, “What Is a Summer Worth?” It was astonishing, even to me.
In this article, Mr. Brown prepared a dollars and cents evaluation of a public library summer reading program. The cost and findings that he came up with are amazing. He cites several studies that assert that children who do not participate in a summer reading program lose three months in reading skills during the summer. Further, the voluntary reading opportunity provided by public library summer reading programs actually prevents more educational loss than summer school programs.
In Texas, where Mr. Brown drew his monetary estimates and calculations from, participation in a public library summer reading program saves $873.00 per reader. This amount is an estimate of the educational dollar value retained instead of lost during the break (Translation: How much will not need to be spent re-teaching what was lost over the summer).
This coming week the Southington Library’s summer reading program, 2007: Spy Camp, begins. I urge you to bring your children to the library and sign up. During the months of July and August we have 29 programs for children of all ages and weekly reading prizes. It all culminates in a fantastic grand finale featuring bounces, an obstacle course, and a great show. Children who participate will receive a fabulous spy bag, filled with goodies. But the best gift of all will be the ability of your child to enter school in the fall and pick up learning right where he or she left off. It’s good for your child and good for the community.
