Up, Up and Away with the Okanagan Regional Library Summer Reading Club!

Zooming through the sky like a super hero is what awaits your child when they join the Summer Reading Club at your nearby Okanagan Regional Library branch.  “Up, Up and Away” is the exciting theme this year for 5-12 year olds.  To celebrate reading, there are seven fun subthemes, one for each week of this free series.  Hovering like a hummingbird in “living things with wings”, your child will learn about birds, bats and flying insects that buzz!  Successfully uncovering secret identities in “pardon me, you’re standing on my cape” showcases superheroes, superpowers, secret identities and secret lairs.  Kids can soar through the clouds in the “prepare for takeoff” theme where aircraft, airships and flights to interesting places will thrill them!  Another stop will be to journey on quests and expeditions to exotic locations during the “send me a postcard” theme.  Finding out about weird weather and shining stars while “reading the sky” where sky mythology and star gazing will fascinate your pre-teen!  Explore sci-fi   in “worlds above and beyond” where fantasy and future worlds abound!  For the final subtheme, “to the stars!” your astronauts will travel to other planets, learning about astronomy and reading tales set in space!

So, have your child become a space traveler by joining this “out-of-this world” club for school-aged children.  Registration for SRC is ongoing throughout the summer. Each registrant will receive a special superhero kit with a reading record to keep track of all the outstanding books that he/she reads and a bookmark.  A cool rocket ship game, based on “Snakes and Ladders” is part of the reading log, as well as a punch-out disk, with two merging picture which dress the superhero before your very eyes! Set a goal to read- even just for 15 minutes a day -it’s that easy!   Seven colourful stickers to fill in the squares on the reading log can be earned, one for each week of reading and programs. Weekly book draw tickets will be given for each title read for a chance to win some fantastic book prizes and coupons!  Cool contests, great guest speakers and fun activities are just some of the awesome stuff kids can do! Everything is FREE! A special Olympic – sized medal,  as well as a completion certificate to hang on the wall,  will be awarded to children who complete their reading logs by September.

Encouraging kids to read regularly to keep up or improve their reading skills while school is out is the goal of incentive-based Summer Reading Clubs. Studies have shown all students experience learning losses during the summer when they don’t take part in educational activities. No one wants their kids to fall behind at school! Last year there were 4,524 children registered for the Summer Reading Clubs at our 29 branches.   A huge total of 8.998 children went to our 208 programs system-wide from Golden to Princeton!

So, check out www.orl.bc.ca/kids for more information and to sign up your child to become a super reader!

By Linda Youmans, Youth Collections/ System Librarian