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Children’s summer reading a success [UPDATED]
Published 7:00am Thursday, August 2, 2012 Updated 12:02pm Thursday, August 2, 2012Did your child or grandchild “Dream Big!” at the Fergus Falls Public Library this summer? If so, then he or she was one of 700 kids who participated in our annual summer reading program (SRP).
That’s right-we had 700 children, infants through 5th grade, register for SRP this year.
Our eight-week SRP ran from June 4 through July 28. Upon registration, children received a reading log on which they recorded the time spent reading, or being read to.
They could bring the log into the library each week for a prize and if they completed the log (read 18 hours) they received a free book and other prizes.
About 275 kids turned in their completed logs and 50 turned in a second log.
That means over 5,800 hours of reading time was recorded. And who says kids don’t read anymore?
Besides reading, children could also participate by attending one of 64 programs offered during the months of June and July.
We held weekly storytimes for younger children, weekly book clubs and educational programs for older children, and held three special evening events for families.
Through the Viking Library System and MN Legacy Funds we hosted a wonderful puppet show with 105 people in attendance.
The Friends of FFPL sponsored a hilarious magician and we had 113 people here to enjoy that program. Our popular pajama storytime drew in a crowd of 77.
We had a total of 2,623 people attend our children’s summer events (an average of 41 people per program).
I would like to thank the following people/organizations for coming to both FFPL and Cleveland School to provide a quality program, free of charge: Harmony Studios, OTCHS, FF Area Garden Club, Karen Aakre, AC4TA, PWLC, and M State. We had 1,000 people attended these weekly programs!
And, last but not least, a huge thank you to all of our children’s summer reading sponsors.
A program as successful as this could not have been possible without the help of such committed community members and organizations. I’d first like to thank the Friends of the Fergus Falls Public Library.
They provided the majority of SRP funding; purchasing treats, program supplies, prizes, decorations, and much more.
Next, the following entities provided funds which made our one-on-one reading tutoring program called ERL (Extra Reading at the Library) another great success: Floyd and Harriet Miller Endowment Fund, Inga M. Johnson Endowment Fund, Fergus Falls Community Education, Lundeen Family Foundation, and Otter Risers Kiwanis.
Finally, these local businesses provided coupons to children for free pizza, cookies, and ice cream, as part of the Got Books? Program and Grand Prize package: Pizza Ranch, City Bakery, and Dairyland.
Thank you for your continued support! Next year’s SRP theme is “Dig Into Reading” and, if you can believe it, planning for another great summer is already underway.
Arielle Krohn is the Youth Librarian at Fergus Falls Public Library.
