FORT SILL, Okla. (June 11, 2015) -- Peyton Christense has been coming to listen to "Ms. Jill" read for as long as he can remember. When he was 3 years old, Peyton would listen as she read but now as a 9-year-old, he said he enjoys reading on his own because "it can put a picture in your mind."
Peyton and a dozen other children played musical bingo and made crafts June 4 at Nye Library, as part of the library's third through sixth grade summer reading programs.
"The summer reading program is designed to encourage reading over the summer because that's when (children) kind of lose a lot of their school skills since they're not reading as much," said "Ms. Jill," Jill Manley, library technician and program coordinator.
The program began June 3 and runs for eight weeks. It has four categories, preschool and younger, kindergarten through second grade, third through sixth grade, and teens and adults.
The reading goal for each age group is different. Children in the second grade and younger are encouraged to read 10 hours during the eight-week program. Children in the third through sixth grade have a goal of 15 hours while teenagers and adults have a 20-hour goal.
"During the summer a lot of families are moving so that's one of the challenges (of completing the goal)," said Manley, who has organized the event for the seven years. "There are also a lot of summer fun stuff to do, there's vacation Bible school, camps, and sometimes they're busy and don't read as often."
However, Manley said there are incentives to reading. Each week the library also has events for each category, such as the musical bingo and crafts Peyton participated in.
At the end of the event, those who have read enough can redeem their reading hours for prizes. Children in sixth grade and younger can redeem prizes after every hour they have read. Teens and adults are rewarded for every two hours they read.
"We have incentives to help those who don't normally like to read to possibly read so they can earn prizes. The first prize is the summer reading 2015 T-shirt," said Manley. "The other prizes are music related because the reading program theme is 'Read to the Rhythm.'"
Manley said last year 300 people signed up with about half reaching the reading goal.
Currently, 267 people have registered and registration continues throughout the summer to allow incoming families to participate after they have arrived.
Brittany Brown said her three children have participated in reading programs at every duty stations they have moved to. She said her children enjoy helping each other read to achieve the amount of reading hours the other siblings have read.
"They keep each other accountable," Brown said. "Like they read seven hours this week but one of them hadn't. They all helped to get the last one to read the seven hours. They love to read and I think it's good to learn to love to read. If you can read, you can learn anything."
Manley said those who are interested in participating can go online and register themselves and their families.
They can also visit the library and receive an information pack with useful tips, such as what items can be won.
For more information contact Manley at 580-442-2084.
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