Summer-reading program participation skyrocketing at Stratford Public Library

Thanks to the support of its community partners, the Stratford Public Library is experiencing a banner year for participation in its summer-reading programs.

More than 1,000 kids – or approximately one in four in Stratford – are currently taking part in the local TD Summer Reading Club, a program aimed at encouraging kids to continue reading daily over the course of the summer when school is out.

“There’s more kids signing up every day, and that’s just with the summer-reading challenge,” Stratford children’s librarian Trish MacGregor said. “TD Summer Reading supports us with kits, and the kids can sign up for a kit. What we have at Stratford Public Library is a game board where the children set their own personal goal for daily reading because … if the kids read every day, they’re not going to hit that summer slide.

“Children who love to read might say, ‘I want to read 20 minutes or half an hour a day, or I want to read a chapter a day,’ and that’s amazing. Children who don’t like to read so much; if they read 10 minutes a day, it’s still going to make a difference to them.”

While participating kids can change their daily reading goals if they want, everyone who achieves their daily reading goal 10 days in a row wins a prize by playing SPLinko, the Stratford Public Library’s version of Plinko, a game popularized on The Price is Right.

“Some of the prizes are things that we have bought like bouncy balls and pencils and things like that. Some of the prizes are things from the community. We’ve got ice cream cones, popcorn. Mike’s Bowling has stepped in with some lanes of bowling,” MacGregor said.

If kids read every day for 40 days straight, they can also hand in their game boards to receive ballots for the chance to win a grand prize.

“The grand prizes are things like a membership to the YMCA, french fry cards from Ken’s Fries. The Little Prince Theater has given us a package. McDonald’s has given us prizes for the 10-day games. There’s book prizes. There’s a lot, so it just gives them the incentive to go the whole 40 days. … It doesn’t really matter what they read. We want them to read to the best of their ability and be successful.”

MacGregor says the library began partnering with local businesses to provide these reading incentives in 2019. Since then, she said participation in the TD Summer Reading Club has increased steadily year over year. In 2018, MacGregor said participation hovered just below the 250 mark. Once the local partners got on board, that number kept increasing to more than 600 just prior to the pandemic and then more than 800 last year.

This summer, it’s at more than 1,000 kids and counting.

“We did go to all the schools this year to promote summer reading, and that’s really made the difference. … I think a big part of it is letting kids make the choices of what they want to read in the summer so they’re motivated and they have fun with it,” MacGregor said.

Even though the program ends Aug. 18, followed by the library’s end of summer celebration from 1 pm to 4 pm on Aug. 23, there’s still plenty of time to participate in the club to win some great prizes. Kids who are interested can visit the library and ask for a TD Summer Reading Club kit to get started. They can even tell a librarian like MacGregor how many days straight they’ve been reading this summer – on the honor system or their parent or caregiver’s word – so they’re still eligible to win one of this summer’s grand prizes.

There are also plenty of other programs for all ages being offered at the library during the final weeks of the summer.

Adults can register for the Canadian Quilt Adult Summer Reading Challenge, a self-directed program they can complete online to earn badges and win prizes. Teens can participate in the Ignite Your Summer photo contest on Instagram to win weekly prizes and to receive a ballot for the end-of-summer grand prize. On Aug.12, the library is hosting its Family Amazing Race event in Upper Queen’s Park for families with kids eight and older. From Aug. 21 to Aug. 25 and Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, kids aged six and older can participate in the Makerspace Multiverse daily in the library auditorium.

For a full listing of summer programs at the library, visit splibrary.ca/summer-library.

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