TEAM READ

Kids get active and get reading this summer

All Hampshire Libraries are on their marks and getting set to keep young people active and keep them reading throughout the summer holidays….with the Summer Reading Challenge™.

The Summer Reading Challenge™ is simple – read six books during the summer, through your local library. Children are given a special pack and a set of incentives to collect as they read, with a certificate and medal for those that successfully complete the Challenge.

Every year there’s a different theme. This year’s Summer Reading Challenge™ is called Team Read, with a whole range of sporty activities and incentives to spur children on to the finishing line.

Librarians at your local library will be on had to act as team coaches, and an interactive Team Read website will be launched in June, linking children with top authors and illustrators whilst giving them space to talk about their favourite books and share reading ideas. With Team GB gearing up for the Beijing Olympics, successful Team Readers will be able to boast that they’ve beaten our top sportspeople when it comes to winning medals! So there’s more than a sporting chance that boys as well as girls will get on the fast track to becoming keen readers.

The Summer Reading Challenge™ is ten years old this year, and is now reaching over 650,000 children in the UK. It’s created and run by The Reading Agency, the independent charity working to bring more reading to more people, in partnership with the UK library network.

Research shows how central reading for pleasure is for children’s life chances, and yet recent international comparisons show that children in England enjoy reading less than their international peers and less than they did five years ago. They’re also spending less time reading for fun outside of school.

The good news is that the Summer Reading Challenge™ is keeping children in the race over the summer when it comes to reading, improving their reading range, confidence and enjoyment. Schools say that this contributes to their confidence and reading achievement, with potentially life-changing results. This year, thanks to a new initiative called Enjoying Reading, there are also new resources available to help libraries and schools work more closely together in capitalising on the progress children make through the Summer Reading Challenge™ and turning them into reading winners. That’s an excellent result as part of the 2008 National Year of Reading.

For opening times see www.hants.gov.uk/library