Font Resize
School is out, the sun is shining, and the community pool is open for business -- it's officially summer.
Which means it's also time to start a summer reading program: a chance to set aside textbooks for a few months and become engrossed in lighter fare.
For parents who remember fondly reading Nancy Drew mysteries as children and filling out reading records to track progress, Salt Lake County Library Services provides a way to recapture the nostalgia. For the third straight year, the county library system -- which includes Columbus Library at 2530 S. 500 East and Calvin S. Smith Library at 810 East 3300 South -- offers not only reading programs for children and teens, but one designed specifically for adults.
"They love it," said Greg Near, Salt Lake County Library Service's Public Relations Coordinator. "We've had libraries requesting additional adult reading records because they've run out."
It's all about encouraging the entire family to read, Near said.
The theme this summer is "creativity." The children's program is called "Be Creative" and the teen program is called "Express Yourself." For adults, it's "Master the Art of Reading." The three charts can be found at www.saltlakesummerreading.com.
In "Be Creative," children "color in one paint pot for each reading session." In "Express Yourself," teens rate books they've read in stars and mark if they
At the end of August, a free book awaits all those who complete their reading goals. For teens, this involves reading four books and doing four "free choices," which include reading a magazine, graphic novel or eBook, listening to an audiobook or CD, watching a DVD, attending a library event, or submitting a book review on the library system's Web site. Simply want to read a regular, old-fashioned book for a "free choice"? That's OK, too.
Along the way, small, age-appropriate prizes are available. Participants are invited to visit a library once a month to pick up key chains, magnetic pictures frames and other bonuses.
The library also offers "Draw Down Your Fines!" Kids and teens 18 and younger are invited to have their reading timed. For each half-hour, existing fines are reduced by $1.
Students can reduce up to $5 of their previously accrued overdue fines.
Paula Burgon, a youth services librarian at South Jordan Library, said the programs give families something to do that doesn't cost money. It also helps those who aren't in year-round school stay sharp.
"The most important thing is we're putting books in people's hands," Burgon said.
