As summer approaches, the Kewanna Union Township Public Library is doing its part to help beat the “summer slide,” a phenomenon in which children lose educational progress over their summer break, with a robust summer reading program that encourages kids and teens to read over the summer. Educational, fun enrichment activities throughout the summer are an important feature of this program-and they’re free, making them accessible to everyone in the community.
According to research created by the Collaborative Summer Library Program, summer learning loss accounts for two-thirds of the 9th-grade achievement gap in reading between students from low-income households and their higher-income peers. The research also shows that differences in children’s summer learning experiences during their elementary school years can ultimately impact whether they earn a high school diploma and continue to college. To support the community, the library is providing access to books and reading activities for wide range of interests and reading levels, as well as librarians to guide children and families in selecting great books.
“We know how important it is for children to have access to books over the summer,” said Linda Ruhl, Program Supervisor. “That’s why we are committed to providing resources that make reading fun and exciting. Our goal is to help kids continue to make progress over the summer months and prevent any decline in reading achievement scores.”
Accessing books is essential for beating the summer slide, and the Kewanna Union Township Public Library provides an ideal solution for children to select their own reading materials, which is shown to increase comprehension, writing style, vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development. In addition to books, summer activities, such as those at Kewanna Union Township Public Library through their summer reading program, are useful for enabling children to pick their preferred literature and make reading enjoyable and social.
Kewanna Union Township Public Library’s summer program will include weekly Summer Camp activities, Thursday evening special events, weekly Craft To Go kits, free books every week for all summer readers, monthly story times, weekly Lego Club, and weekly Teens N Tweens Program. Additionally, families can access the library’s extensive catalog of books at any time through their digital lending system.
Kewanna Union Township Public Library is a leading provider of public library services in Kewanna. In addition to physical resources such as books, magazines, DVDs, and audiobooks, the library also offers a wide range of digital resources, including e-books and databases. For more information about services, visit www.kewanna.lib.in.us, check out our Facebook page (Kewanna Union Township Public Library), or call 574-653-2011.
