A patron called the library this last Saturday about the summer reading list for a Catholic school in the area that my library serves. In my opinion, this particular school does a good job with their summer reading: there are three books on the list for all high school grades and if the students read all the books and write a paper, they get to skip an exam in the fall. It seems to work well and there’s only three titles for me to coordinate. I like that.
But this patron wanted to put the books on hold for her daughter now, so that she could read them all before the summer.
Sigh.
Generally, the point of summer reading is to prevent students from losing skills they had gained over the previous year. Keeping the mind engaged over the summer months is sort of the point. But if parents want to make their kids do it now, I guess I can’t tell them no.
Anyway, I know I spent a lot of time complaining and being nervous about the summer last year, but I have a secret for you: I’m excited about this summer. I have a lot of fun things planned: a CSI program, a ghost hunting program, slam poetry, crafts, movies, and more. It’s going to be great!
lcarslibrarian 