All Together Now!
It’s Time for Summer Reading Fun at BCPL
Gwen Akers
The Ashland Beacon
All Together Now! It’s time to join together for some summer reading fun.
Kicking off their 54th year of summer reading, the Boyd County Public Library is pleased to announce “All Together Now!” for its 2023 summer reading program. Registration is open now, and the program will run from June 1 through the end of July. The program offers a children's program, a teen program, and an adult program that rewards participants based on the amount of time they spend reading over the summer. Each year, a theme is selected that guides the program’s activities and events, and this year is focused on bringing the community together.
“We're trying to focus on diversity, kindness, friendship, unity, things like that. Because we're all together now–we're in this together,” stated Tiffany Seibert, the Programming and Community Services Outreach Supervisor for the library.
The program is aimed at garnering interest in reading across all age groups, as well as helping motivate schoolchildren to keep learning and exploring during summer break.
“It was just really nice to just have a way to keep myself accountable for reading things during the summer,” stated Hannah Laney, a teen who has been a part of the summer reading program for three years. “It’s an important skill to have in life. It's easy not to use it anywhere, especially since so many things are increasingly digital.”
According to Seibert, last year the program hosted around 285 adults and over 1000 children and teens. The library hopes to top this number this year.
“It's important to keep kids active during the summer because you know no one wants to do schoolwork during the summer, but by continuing to use a local library, we can help them not get that brain fog in the summer,” commented Seibert.
Every so many hours, participants can earn certain awards and are once more able to pick up their prizes whenever they earn them. Some prizes include a t-shirt, library-branded bags, and books of choice. During the pandemic, the summer reading program was moved to a more virtual stage, and prizes could only be picked up at the end of the semester. Starting this year, the library is pleased to once more offer their weekly activities for the children’s and tween/teen’s program at both the main branch and the Midland Branch.
Led by staff members, these activities vary from crafts to staff lead experiences and shows. They are a great way for children to both get out in the community and interact with one another.
Laney expressed her gratitude and excitement about these events, noting how she was able to make many friends and have many fun experiences and opportunities she wouldn’t have had before.
“It’s important to have ways to keep reading! proclaimed Laney.
Registration is open now online, and participants can start logging their hours starting on June first. Those interested, can check out the library’s website at thebookplace.org, to learn more about the summer reading program and the many other opportunities and resources offered by your local library.
