By Khalida Sarwari
The Santa Clara County Library District is offering a summer reading program for all ages this summer that celebrates science and reading with challenges, performances and prizes.
This year’s themes are all science-oriented, with “Fizz-Boom-Read!” for children up to 17 years old, “Make It Pop” for those from 10 to 12 years old, “Spark a Reaction” for teens and “Literary Elements” for adults.
The family and community event aims to prevent what’s called a “summer slide,” a term used to describe a significant lapse in learning experienced by students when they return to school in the fall due to a drop in reading habits over the summer months. According to Roslyn Donald, a supervising librarian for adults and teen services at the Saratoga Library, students who read widely and frequently do better in school. The best thing parents can do to prevent summer slide is to encourage their kids to read over the summer, no matter what the topic of the book.
“Reading for pleasure is still reading,” Donald said. “Especially in the summer, self-selection of reading materials is very important to motivate struggling readers. It’s an opportunity to pick up something they want to read.”
In order to support their children’s efforts, Donald encourages parents to take part in the summer reading program as well. She advised families to set aside 20 minutes each day to read together. For those traveling by car or plane, listening to an audiobook is a great option, she said. One way to get the whole family involved is to hold a contest to see who can read the most pages in a week.
“The most important thing we remind parents of is ‘monkey see, monkey do,’ ” she said. “If your kids see you reading, they’ll know it’s important.”
Even those without young children are encouraged to set a reading goal for the summer. Donald recommends trying a new genre, exploring a new subject or picking up a classic. Don’t know where to start? Help is available at the library, where librarians are always willing to give recommendations based on each person’s reading preferences.
“One obstacle I hear a lot from people is ‘I only read trash’ and I would say that’s totally fine,” Donald said. “Whatever trashy book you’re reading, that counts as summer reading; put that down in your log.”
Readers can keep a log of books they have read during the summer online or on a piece of paper. Adults and teens will receive a $2 gift certificate from Saratoga Chocolates for signing up.
In addition to the signup incentive, there is also a grand prize drawing at the end of summer. Any teen or adult that reads at least five books between June 1 and Aug. 31 will be entered into drawings for an iPad Mini or a Google Nexus tablet. Children will be entered into a drawing for an iPad Shuffle. There will also be weekly prize drawings for gift certificates to local merchants for teens.
“We’ve got prizes galore,” Donald said.
Patrons can sign up at either the adult reference desk at the library anytime during open hours or online, although online registrants still must pick up a registration packet and gift certificate from the library.
The best part is participation in the program is not limited to just people who have a library card.
Each library will host a series of events throughout the summer as part of the summer reading program, from craft activities, workshops and author talks to various demonstrations. The Saratoga Library’s biggest one takes place June 21 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the community room. The library will host the Chabot Cosmic Ray Planetary Theater, an inflatable planetarium where they’ll screen a film about the astronomical features of the sun. Tickets are free and can be obtained at the library beginning at 1:45 p.m. that day.
“It’s a unique event that we haven’t had before,” Donald said.
Elsewhere in the library that day, the Saratoga High School Robotics Club will be demonstrating its robots and there will be science-themed arts-and-crafts and a BrushBot making activity for kids and families.
In July, two bartenders from singlebarrel in San Jose will drop by to discuss the science, art and history of making a cocktail.
“They’ll have samples, but with no alcohol,” Donald said. “It’s very, very sad but them’s the rules.”
Another highlight is a six-week “Coding for Kids” workshop in June and July. All events are sponsored by the Friends of the Saratoga Libraries.
Last year, 290 teenagers and 220 adults participated in the summer reading program.
“We’re looking to increase adults and kids participation by 20 percent this year. That’s my goal,” said Donald.
Online signups are available atsccl.org/adults2014 for adults and sccl.org/teens2014 for teens.
