Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Public Library has completed its annual Summer Reading Program for children, and now it’s the adults’ turn to join the program.
The library is inviting adults to participate in “Escape the Ordinary,” said Library Director Rose Peda. The program has no reading logs or minimum number of books to read.
“Basically, what we do is ask patrons that want to participate to submit a book review and also choose a free book from our cart here,” Peda said. The more they read and submit reviews, the better their chances of winning prizes, including gift certificates to The Point Restaurant, Figaro’s, Subway and A&W, in a drawing on Sept. 8.
Some of the book reviews will go up on the library’s Facebook page, and some will be used in February when the library hosts a “blind date with a book.”
The library staff will wrap books in plain brown paper and rely on book reviews to explain the book.
“It’s to get the whole community involved in reading,” Peda said. “We had our summer push for the children. Now we’re pushing for adults. It’s important for the children to see their parents reading.”
It’s important for them to see parents reading and enjoying it, Peda said, and it’s just something fun for adults to do.
Number three on a list of the 10 steps to teaching children to read, based on a Harvard study 20 years ago, is “be a model,” said Librarian Sandi Leonard. That follows only reading to a child and asking questions about books.
At this point in the year, library staff members are planning fall and winter activities.
“We’re waiting for school to start up, looking forward to the new school year and developing more relationships with the schools,” Peda said.
The library will continue to offer story time at 10 a.m. on Fridays, and it will continue its Lego program in the afternoons on Fridays, with a time to be announced.
Peda said she is hoping to host the library’s second open mic night and she is hoping to have two local authors read passages from their books as part of the event. She is hoping to hold the event during the second week of September, but the date is not set yet.
The event is an opportunity for writers to get together and share what they’ve done, she said.