In every book lies a new adventure.
Ten-year-old Surena has a stack of books to check out from the Okanagan Regional Library that will take him to outer space and back.
“I like to read science, space and some graphic novels,” said Surena.
Alongside his Grade 4 class from the Balsam School, Surena is signing up for the library’s Summer Reading Club, with goals bigger than his stack of books.
His classmates, strewn throughout the library, all had their noses in books on the second last day of school before summer vacation.
Their teacher, Graham Gregson, says that since getting their students involved in the summer reading program, they have noticed a considerable difference when they return in September.
“There’s a concept called the ‘summer slide,’ which involves a little bit of academic loss if students aren’t working on their literacy skills,” said Gregson.
“The summer reading club offers that opportunity to keep kids engaged in literacy in a fun way.”
Nine-year-old Sequoia is planning her summer vacation, one book at a time.
The students make up a small number of the young readers joining this year’s Summer Reading Club, which begins on June 23.
“In 2024, we broke all of our records of participation from previous years,” said Danielle Hubbard, CEO of Okanagan Regional Library. “We had over 8,000 kids go through the program, and we had almost 30,000 kids and parents come to our programs.”
They hope to beat that number this year as young readers explore the world with every page turned.