From Norma Blake, New Jersey State Librarian
Faced with a very weak economy, high unemployment, furloughs and pay cuts, many New Jersey families are planning to vacation in state this year, traveling no farther than our famous beaches and boardwalks. Even then, a recent poll by Monmouth University/Gannett shows some residents are eliminating visits to the shore all together and others will be staying fewer days.
Cutting back on activities to save money can pose a real problem for parents who need to come up with economical, but interesting activities to keep their children from getting bored and restless. Day trips to their local library could be the creative solution to just what those budget-wary parents and their energetic children and teens need. Public libraries offer a wealth of resources for children, and this summer they will offer even more ways to be creative, expressive, involved and challenged. Our community libraries continue to play a transformational role in the lives of their customers by offering unique opportunities found nowhere else.
For the past seven years, The New Jersey State Library has supported the NJ Library Association’s state-wide Summer Reading Program with a $50,000 grant. This worthwhile initiative attracts thousands of children and teens each year. In 2008, 110,000 children and teens across New Jersey participated, reading nearly two million books. Since its inception, the Summer Reading Program has inspired and motivated children to read purely for fun, without the pressure of taking tests or writing book reports, keeping their minds sharp, improving their reading skills and expanding their imaginations.
Each year the Summer Reading Program has a theme, which many libraries adopt. This year, young readers will enjoy expressing their creativity as the themes are Be Creative@Your Library for children and Express Yourself@Your Library for teens. Public libraries all over our state will be scheduling activities for children and teens from mid-June through August, not only to entertain them with stories and activities, but also to give them a chance to learn various ways of expressing themselves in diverse ways.
The advantages of participating in a Summer Reading Program are many. Studies show that the number of books read is consistently related to academic gains, and that reading as a leisure activity increases comprehension, vocabulary and reading speed. This year, for the first time, the economic advantages of these reading programs have come to the forefront. Many families have been forced to eliminate vacations, give up sending their children to camp, forego that summer pool club membership and cut back on trips to theme parks. Economic reality will be affecting the plans of many families this summer, but that does not mean that it has to be dull and unexciting, because local libraries have a number of events planned that are fun for the whole family.
Kids will make murals at the Cranbury and Clifton libraries; explore the artistic use of duct tape in West Deptford; and learn ballet and creative movement in Bradley Beach. The Atlantic County Library System will be visited by Marvel Comics illustrator Joe Del Beato, Cape May County teens will be able to create their own comic book and Monmouth County will offer drama workshops. In Sayreville, children will learn the splatter art of Jackson Pollack and experience Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel by painting on paper taped to the underside of tables. In Bound Brook, teens will learn how to be creative on the radio.
From learning digital photography, magic and balloon artistry to storytelling, clay modeling, crocheting and yoga, children and teens will find their summer packed with interesting, challenging and fun things to do at their library. And their parents will get a chance to get acquainted with what the library has added for them this summer: reading clubs, family movies, classes, photography, reading contests, local author visits, and all those recommended “beach” reads for the backyard lounge.
Of course, all this fun is designed with a purpose: to stimulate children, teens and adults to read more. Twenty-five percent of children polled by Scholastic Publishing said they had trouble finding books that they would want to read for fun. Our Summer Reading Program is designed to help, and our Children and Youth Librarians are experienced in finding great books to pique the interest of even the most resistant youngsters.
Get creative and save money this summer by joining your local library’s Summer Reading Program. Just because you’ll be staying close to home, doesn’t mean you can’t have a summer of traveling to interesting places, investigating far off realms and trying new things by using your imagination and your local library’s resources.
