FORT MADISON - The Fort Madison Public Library had a great summer reading program this year thanks to many people in our community.
Thank you to United Way of the Great River Region for providing funding to help pay for performers and supplies for the summer reading program. If you have donated to United Way, thank you for helping to provide quality summer programming for kids and adults. Additional funding for library employees and supplies was provided by the City of Fort Madison and Lee County through property tax funds. Bent Oak Books also donated a gift card to one of our prize baskets for the adult and teen program.
In addition to providing incentives to keep reading through the summer, we hosted 39 programs, attended by almost 900 people. Programs included crafts, insects, stories, dinosaurs, a foam party and Minecraft. In addition to programs, we had 257 people register for the reading program. Together, they have read more than 140,000 hours (about 2400 hours) as of July 22. Adults can still turn in reading minutes for our prize basket drawing and kids 18 and younger can still earn prizes by reading through August 22.
1000 Books Before Kindergarten
In March, we launched the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program. In the four months since we started, we have 45 young readers registered and, so far, they have read 1,747 books. Nine of those readers have at least hit the 100 mark and had their bookworm placed on our chart, crawling its way up to 1,000.
As a reminder, this is a simple program, and a fun, free way to start your child on the path to success. Set a goal to read 1,000 books to, or with, your child before Kindergarten and then record your progress at the library or through the Beanstack app. 1,000 books may seem like a lot, but if you read one book each night, you’ll reach your goal in less than 3 years. Additionally, you don’t have to read 1000 different books. If your child has a favorite book, you can count it each time you read it together. Repetition is an important part of early literacy.
Children from birth to 5 years old can participate. Stop by the library front desk to register and pick up a reading log to record your first 100 books with your child. When you register, you will also get a bag to hold your library books and a free board book. For each 100 books you read, come back to the library to let us know and pick up another reading log. You can also track your reading using the Beanstack app. As you reach different milestones in the program, your child’s name can be added to our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten progress chart and there are additional prizes for reaching the 250, 500 and 750 book milestones, including free books and a Rhythm and Songs kit. At 1,000 books, your child will get a washable tote bag and have their name put in the front of one of their favorite books at the library.
Summer’s Not Over Yet
Library summer reading activities are just about finished but there is a lot of summer left. Check out one of these outdoorsy books from the library.
There will not be any children’s programs at the library during the month of August. Regular programming will resume after Labor Day. You can pick up a copy of the September calendar at the library near the end of August.
All Booked Up! - The library's book discussion group meets on the first Thursday of the month at 1:30 p.m. On Thursday, August 1, we will be discussing "The Girls of Riyadh” by Rajaa al-Sanea. September’s book will be “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here