MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- With school coming to a close and children faced with the temptation of spending too much time in front of the television or computer screen, the station library here is offering an alternative.
The library is inviting children ages 5 to 12 to have fun and be creative through its 2009 summer reading program starting June 23.
“Our theme this year is, ‘be creative and express yourself,’” said Rebekah Strange, a library technician with the station library.
“We’re going to teach the children how to express themselves through music, art, poetry, dance and theater.”
Participating children will sign a contract with the librarian, deciding how many minutes they plan to read, and receive a time log to keep track of minutes read.
Station children who will be traveling during the summer months can also participate in the program.
“Books are portable. They can read them anywhere,” said Belinda Pugh, the supervisory technician at the station library. Children can sign up and take their time log with them while traveling and turn it in to the library when they return.
As part of the summer reading program, the library has scheduled guest speakers and a variety of art and craft projects open to all reading program participants every Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Musicians, artists and performers have been invited to speak to the children who will then help them create everything from little tambourines to collages, said Strange.
Participants will also read a different story together during the scheduled programs and be able to participate in different contests ranging from photography to poetry.
“We’re getting a whole bunch of books that are about these different subjects,” said Strange.
Books on art, poetry, dancing and theater will be offered to the children to take home and read.
After the children finish reading and fill out their time logs, they can take their logs to the library once a week and receive small prizes for minutes read.
“One of our goals is to help the children maintain their reading comprehension skills during the summer,” said Pugh. “If they don’t read during the summer, they sort of have to start at square one and regress a little bit once school starts.”
“If they just read 15 minutes a day, it really will help them maintain that comprehension level,” added Pugh.
Children who wish to read other books from the library will have the opportunity to browse though its collection and choose one for themselves.
“We have cool books. Whether it be a chapter book or a picture book or something like that, there is something for everybody,” said Strange.
“The library is a good resource. It expands their world and promotes education — shows them there’s so many things out there they wouldn’t know of and helps them as a person to be more whole, more educated, more aware.”
While the age bracket is 5- to 12-year-olds, children of younger ages have signed up to participate.
“They’re considered a family reader,” said Strange. “Right now, I have a couple of 2-year-olds registered, and as a family reader, they’ll sit down and read the books with their mom. We’re not really putting a cap on it.”
Parents and children have already started signing up for the program.
“I’ve never participated, but it sounds like a really good thing,” said Shannon Legette, a mother of two children. “They can meet new friends and just expand their reading.”
Some parents and children always say there is nothing to do over the summer, but this is a great thing for them to do weekly, Legette said.
Children interested in participating in the summer reading program can sign up from now until the end of the program — slated for July 28 at the station library.
“Come in, get signed up and have some fun.” said Strange