Summer is in full swing, weather-wise, and reading-wise, here in southern California at A.K. Smiley Public Library! Our Summer Reading Program theme this year is “Read Beyond the Beaten Path.” The Youth Services Crew brainstormed a fabulous Summer Reading Game this year…a weekly game of “Capture the Flag!” We have challenged the Adult Services Department to a reading challenge of who can read the most pages…kids or adults?! We are currently into Week 5 and going strong! The current, fourth week score is: Kids: 492,122/Adults: 84,902.
As you can see, the Youth Services team is ANNIHILATING the Adult Services team! Toddlers, kids, tweens, and teens are reading ferociously, where, well, you adults need to pick up the pace, A LOT! Adults, you can pick up your Summer Reading Program Book Review forms at any of the service desks, including the Young Readers’ Room! We would love to see a rousing comeback by the adults for this year’s reading challenge competition. Let’s see you adults log in those pages for the final two weeks and give these toddlers, kids, tweens, and teens a good run for the grand finale score!
Toddlers, kids, tweens, and teens can sign up in the Young Readers’ Room anytime. We have special reading logs for each age group, and prizes, oh yes, we have prizes! Toddlers (ages 0 – 3) can earn a sticker each week for turning in their reading logs. The kids (ages 4 – 9) will earn a different prize each week for turning in their reading logs. Tweens (ages 10 – 12) and teens (ages 13 – 19) will earn one ticket for every 50 pages they read. The tickets are then distributed to one of the many prizes they’d like to try to win. We have such a generous community of businesses that have donated gift cards again this year for the Youth Services Summer Reading Challenge: A’la Minute; Look Cinema; Happy Camper Creamery; Flowstone Climbing; Nichos Ice Cream; Cookie Co.; Tie Dye Tees; Redlands Art Association; The Frugal Frigate; and Jack’s Toy Shop matched a grant with the City to donate. A great big THANK YOU to all of these businesses who so generously gave from their shops to our kids! We appreciate it!! We have also purchased other gift cards as well, so we have a nice selection of gift cards to choose from.
Don’t despair adults, you will have the opportunity to win a gift card as well! There are other businesses who donated gift cards towards the Adult Services Reading Challenge, as well as the gift cards that the library or The Friends of the Library purchased: Bricks & Birch; Saverino’s; Olive Avenue Market; Oscar’s Mexican Restaurant; A’ La Minute; The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe; Carolyn’s Café, and The Breakfast Shack…and the GRAND PRIZE winner will receive a $100 shopping spree from Gerrard’s Market!
So, get to reading and filling out those reading logs or review forms and let’s see who will ‘Capture the Flag’ for the next two weeks! The Youth Services Crew is so excited to see the final number of pages read by our community!
We are also offering an on-line reading platform again this summer through the Beanstack website: Beanstack: Reading Challenges and Personalized Recommendations
Log on today, get registered, and you can begin earning virtual badges!
As a part of our Summer Reading Program this year, the Youth Services Department offers some entertainment for our youth to go along with the reading fun! We have two shows for children each Tuesday, so come on out and join us.
Special entertainment is available at 10:00 a.m. each Tuesday morning in the park, behind the library, in front of The Lincoln Memorial Shrine, and the same show is repeated at 2 p.m. inside at The Contemporary Club. Please come to just one of the shows are we are breaking up the huge crowds of folks.
Tuesday, July 26, the stages will be taken over by crowd-pleaser, Michael Rayner: Michael Rayner: Comedian/ Juggler/ Actor/ Strange Guy. The Grand Finale show will be with crowd favorite, Christopher T. Magician: christophertmagician.com.
Also, each Tuesday at 11 a.m., the Redlands Unified School District Child Nutrition Services team is here to serve a free lunch to each and every child, tween and teen! The food has been a delight and they always have extra goodies to share as well!
Teens, don’t you fret, we also have two more programs for you this summer as well! We’ve been having a great time with you all during the summer. The next event will be Wednesday, July 27, “Survival Skills,” with The University of Redlands Outdoor Programs. Our Grand Finale for the teens (ages 13 – 19) will be an anime workshop with world renown Carlos Nieto: Anime Your Way | Online Drawing Platform. You can find more information about our Teen Underground Department here: Teens (akspl.org)
We look forward to seeing the Summer Reading Challenge pages read exceed our expectations in the next two weeks, and we hope to see you attend one of the last two shows we have to offer you this summer! The Youth Services Crew is here to help you find the perfect book selections for the remainder of your summer!