The Summer Reading Challenge

We have a guest blogger this month, and it's the fantastic Beth Reekles. Beth has been volunteering in Ringland library to help promote the summer reading challenge, and we asked her to write a post about her experience:

The Summer Reading Challenge is what it says on the tin: it’s a reading challenge for the summer. It’s aimed at children up to 12, and encourages them to read six books from their local library over the summer. For every two books the kids read, they earn two stickers to stick in their booklet, a true or false game, and a medal and certificate when they complete the challenge.

I spent my summer volunteering at Ringland Library, signing up children, handing out stickers, helping them pick out books, and so on. It’s been a lot of fun, and a really rewarding experience. Some of the kids are more interested in getting their free hour on the computers than looking at any of the books, but a lot of the children who have signed up at the library with me are ones who aren’t usually bothered about books.

One girl, Wendy, said she never really thought reading was fun – but she signed up for the challenge, devoured six books, and once she got her gold medal and last two stickers, she was finding more books to check out of the library.

And Wendy isn’t the only one: several of the children who signed up (if only for the stickers, and the medal) have discovered that reading isn’t the bore they find it is in school: it’s fun. It’s an adventure between pages and whole worlds they haven’t imagined yet.

The Summer Reading Challenge is a national program across the UK, but here in the Newport Gwent libraries, we’ve had a great success. Just over 1300 children signed up this summer, with many of them finishing the challenge.

Anything that gets kids reading more is a success, in my opinion, and the Summer Reading Challenge here in Newport was an undeniable success. 

Beth.