The Daniel Boone Regional Library began their summer reading program earlier this month following a year off due to COVID-19.
Lauren Williams is the Adult and Community Services Manager at the library, and says after despite taking a year off due to the pandemic, the summer reading program (Tails & Tales) has already been very successful in the first few days.
"We already had 565 people signed up for individual summer reading, and then we also do group summer reading for childcare classes and over 200 childcare classes had already signed up. So that's just two days. So, there is a lot of excitement around the program," Williams said.
She says they’re also offering a program for kids in the more rural areas of Boone and Callaway counties - called “Books By Snail.”
"We mail books to students who are grades kindergarten through 12th grade in our two counties - in those cities where we don't have a library branch," Williams explained. "So, that's things like Auxvasse, Hallsville, Kingdom City, Sturgeon, Williamsburg. So, any communities where you don't have a library branch."
Williams adds that while the summer reading program has changed over the years, its purpose has remained the same - and is possibly even more important in light of a disrupted and, for some, difficult virtual school year.
"So summer reading, is really about encouraging kids to stay engaged with reading over the summer, and to prevent what is called the summer slide for kids who kind of lose some reading skills and some literacy skills over the summer."
If you or your child would like to sign up for this reading program, visit their site at dbrl.org/summer-reading-2021 where you can also select “Books By Snail.”
