The Melfort Library is looking back on a successful summer.
From transporting people to far away lands with their imaginations to helping improve children’s reading skills, librarians in Melfort have a lot to be excited about.
Rene Chambers, the head librarian at the Melfort branch told northeastNOW they saw a lot of traffic over the summer.
“The kids read 6096 books this summer as part of the TD Summer Reading Program.”
It’s easy to see why those out of school were spending the summer with their nose in a good book. Young readers were able to not only read fairytales but be emersed in one as well when they came to pick up their next literary adventure.
“The kids just loved the theme. It was ‘Once Upon a Time’ and we had a castle in the library,” she said.
Chambers said the library staff were welcomed by excited faces coming in to return their books in exchange for fun and unique prizes.
“For every two chapter books, or 10 picture books, they were able to pick an egg out of our Dragon’s Nest and open it up to reveal if they won a book, a treat, or a prize.”
The business community rallied to donate gift cards, swim passes, small toys, treats or books to readers could add to their personal library.
At the end of the summer there were draws for gift baskets both in Melfort and at the Regional level.
If the prizes weren’t enough to attract readers, team spirit was. After being sorted into one of four houses, readers counted all of their books in hopes of their team coming out on top.
Unicorns, Dragons, Phoenix and Griffin battled all summer for the number one spot but it was House Cerberus who led the way with 1688 books read.
Unicorns came in a close second with 1356 followed by Dragons with 1230. Griffin put up a valuable effort with 1178 and despite finishing last Phoenix read an astonishing 644 books.
The real winners are all the children who picked up a book and improved their reading level for the upcoming school year.
“With the last couple years of the kids being in and out of school, literacy levels have fallen. If we can do something to help change that, then that’s something we want to continue to do,” Chambers said.
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Rachel.May@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter: @RachelMayFM
