READING Borough Council has hailed a “successful summer” of reading following the latest of its annual programmes aimed at keeping kids engaging with books in the school holidays.
The council runs its Summer Reading Challenge every year, bringing hundreds of children and 25 young volunteers into libraries across the borough in a bid to foster further reading outside of schools.
This year’s event focused on a space theme and saw more than 1,300 primary school children take part in the challenge to read six library books and make trips to libraries through the school holidays.
Nearly 300 teens and adults also took part in the concurrent Book Bingo challenge, reading three books and visiting the library three times.
There were also a range of activities and competitions running alongside the challenge to help school children engage with reading while they were away from the classroom.
The programme welcomes young volunteers each year, and this time they contributed more than 320 hours of their time to support the programme.
This included spending time talking with children aged between four and twelve about their summer reading, explaining how the scheme works to children and parents, handing out scheme rewards, and helping library staff run the events and activities.
Reading Mayor Cllr Paul Gittings was joined by Cllr Jacopo Lanzoni, Lead Councillor for Leisure and Culture, at a ceremony at Central Library to thank the volunteers for their support, as well as present certificates to 14 of the participants in the event.
Cllr Jacopo Lanzoni, Lead Councillor for Leisure and Culture, said: “It is brilliant that so many children spent some of their summer reading books and visiting Reading’s libraries as part of the Reading loves reading challenge.
“A big thank you to the young volunteers who gave up their time to support the challenge by engaging with children and assisting library staff. They make a very important contribution to the programme throughout the summer.
“I would also like to congratulate all the children, and adults, who completed the Reading loves reading challenge and hope they continue to enjoy visiting Reading’s excellent libraries.”
This year’s event was the first since Reading’s Central Library was moved from its previous premises on Kings Road to a new hybrid building alongside the Civic Offices on Bridge Street, which also saw a major overhaul.
The newly-opened library features an expanded children’s library as well as a dedicated space for teen readers.
More information about all of Reading’s library services, including those at Battle, Caversham, Palmer Park, Southcote, Tilehurst, and Whitley Libraries, is available via: reading.gov.uk/leisure/libraries
