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HEATHER HILL
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| Posing at the pizza party held for volunteers of Midland Regional Library’s Summer Reading Program are, from left in front, Caleb Broyles, Kashta Booker, Myrna Andrade-Booker and Andrew Lo. Back row, from left are Ariel Broyles, Brittany Broyles, Baojia Duong, Cheryl Yee and Vanessa Lo. As a whole, the Multnomah County Library system had 55,660 summer readers sign up. Midland Library had 3,939 sign up, and 1,477 finish the program. |
| Photo by Sue Ciesielski |
Research suggests that literacy skills acquired during the school year could deteriorate during three months without practice. The Summer Reading Program offers incentives to keep kids reading. Using a game board format, the library helps children and parents set goals by charting their progress and awarding gifts for each benchmark met. Following public libraries’ commitment to access for everyone, participation is free, made possible by donations from local businesses and a staff of eager volunteers.
On Saturday, Sept. 15, the volunteers gathered in the meeting hall of the Midland Library to celebrate another successful year. Over 50 volunteers, generally between the ages of 11 and 18, had donated their summer vacations to help spread the benefits of reading at Midland Library.
“We couldn’t do it without our volunteers,” Youth Librarian Sue Ciesielski explained, pointing out some circulation room volunteers present as well. “We wanted to take a moment to thank all our volunteers. They help us out a lot.”
The pizza, donated for the event by the Pizza Baron, was plentiful, and while the volunteers munched on cheese, pepperoni or Hawaiian slices, Ciesielski, thanked the attendees for their service. Together with Midland’s new Bilingual Youth Librarian Anne Tran, Ciesielski directed the assembled group of about 25 volunteers through communal games and contests that targeted teamwork and cooperation, skills reinforced through their summer service. Stationed in the children’s area all summer throughout library hours, the volunteers had collaborated in teams of two for two-hour shifts, often paired with someone not formerly known to them. By providing customer service to parents and participants all summer at one of Multnomah County’s busiest branches, they learned to work together while assisting others, forging friendships in the process.
Their responsibilities evolved with their participants’ progress. Early on, they greeted children in the library, encouraged enrollment and handed out game boards. The following months demanded more database maintenance logging achievements. Children up to age six received a board that earned them a space for every 30 minutes of independent reading (every 15 minutes for those being read to). The board for grades seven to 12 set a suggested hour of reading to progress a step. When the child reached one of four reward squares, the volunteers distributed a prize. Prizes varied widely and included coupons to local restaurants and bus passes for older children, toys ranging from kick-balls and puzzles to inflatable alligators for earlier grades. The youngest participants earned sip-mugs or other age-appropriate toys that lack small parts.
For the altruistic, the library also provided an alternative reward, an option to continue the chain to spread the gift of reading. With Book Bucks children can donate their rewards to help buy books for children in homeless shelters and low-income childcare centers.
Nearly 57,000 kids registered for the Summer Reading Program in 2006, and Ciesielski estimated the Midland Branch alone catered to about 3,000 this year. About half completed the entire game and received a Summer Reading T-shirt with the word “read” spelled out on colorful puzzle-pieces in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian and English. Some participants opted for a book coupon instead, but all finalists are eligible to enter to win a family vacation for four to Disneyland.
Of the 25 volunteers assembled at the pizza party, six celebrated four or more summers assisting the reading program, and six more had returned from previous years. The Multnomah County Library estimated that over 50 percent of elementary school students in the county participated in the program last year, giving our Portland area students quite an advantage — one they couldn’t have accomplished without the library volunteers.
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