Children of all ages and families are invited to “gear” their minds toward summer reading fun while learning about community philanthropy benefiting Indy Backpack Attack during The Indianapolis Public Library’s 93rd annual Summer Reading Program, “Gear Up for Good,” beginning Monday, June 4 and continuing through Saturday, July 28 at all Indianapolis Public Library locations as well as the Beech Grove Public Library.
The Summer Reading Program promotes the message that reading during the summer can improve reading skills and help bridge the learning gap between school years. Participants earn points for their reading activity that can be exchanged for a variety of free prizes, including children’s and teen books, school supplies, unique toys, and passes to local sporting events and community activities. Adults can earn points for reading aloud to children.
The Library is teaming up with Presenting Sponsor Indiana Members Credit Union (IMCU) to make sure students are ready for school with the right gear to fill their backpacks. Summer Reading Program participants can exchange their reading points for their own backpack gear, such as pencils, rulers, crayons, sharpeners and calculators, or they can help other needy students gear up for school by donating these earned prizes.
This year’s theme draws inspiration from the physical sciences and the Caldecott Award-winning book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and subsequent movie, Hugo. Gears, automatons, gizmos, gadgets and mechanical and fanciful inventions are featured prominently in the book. To complement the Summer Reading Program, the Library will present a number of summer educational workshops for kids and teens that focus on science activities.
An additional component of this year’s program will be “Earn and Learn,” which allows young people whose outstanding fines and fees prevent them from borrowing library materials to participate in the Summer Reading Program by earning points for their reading activity as they pay down their debts. It’s a way to re-engage young ones in reading and encourage them to become lifelong readers.
The Summer Reading Program, which attracted nearly 52,500 children and families in 2011, will conclude with a celebration of reading achievement during Library Night at Victory Field, sponsored by the Indiana Blood Center, on Monday, July 30 at 7 p.m. Summer readers can earn buy one, get one free tickets to attend this Summer Reading Finale.
Register at any Indianapolis Public Library branch, Central Library or the Bookmobile, as well as the Beech Grove Public Library, to receive a Summer Reading Program points card.
The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation is the proud sponsor of the Summer Reading Program. Supporting sponsors include The Kroger Co.; United Water; Indiana Pacers; Toysmith; Chase; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Citizens Energy Group; Carrier Corporation; OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc.; Old National Bank; 92.3 WTTS; Verizon Foundation; The Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund; Comcast; and the United Way of Central Indiana and the Ruth Lilly Philanthropic Foundation.
For more information on the 2012 Summer Reading Program, call 275-4099 or visit www.imcpl.org.
