29/06/04 - Libraries to launch summer reading challenge : Cumbria County Council

Cumbria County Council's libraries are giving children the chance to broaden their knowledge of the world and stretch their imaginations this summer - and to win a bike.

The 6th Summer Reading Challenge, the national reading game which runs in libraries throughout the UK, starts in July. Its theme for 2004 is the Reading Rollercoaster and any parents worried about keeping their children reading over the Summer should get them on board as soon as possible.

The Reading Challenge is enormously popular. Last year more than 650 000 children took part nationwide and this year’s challenge promises to be the biggest yet.

The format is simple but highly effective in encouraging children to read books throughout the school summer holidays: all children signing up for the Reading Challenge will be given their own bright and attractive Reading Rollercoaster folder; on the back of this is a form where they can record the titles of books as they read them together with their opinions of those books.

Children who read six or more books over the holidays receive a special certificate celebrating their achievement. Extra incentives include different sets of stickers handed out as children borrow books. These can be used to decorate the folders and record progress. There are also pens, bookmarks and fortune tellers to collect along the way.

While the folder makes lots of suggestions about what kind of books children can look for, any and every book borrowed and read is counted towards the Challenge.

All Cumbria children taking part in the challenge up to September 13 will be entered into a prize draw. One of the star prizes is a voucher for a bike.

Councillor Tim Heslop, Cabinet Spokesperson for Libraries, said: "Children love this freedom of choice and it’s all important in connecting them with books they will really enjoy and turn them into readers for life.

"The success of the Reading Challenge in promoting reading is undoubted but it has many other benefits too. Research shows that taking part in the Challenge broadens children’s reading horizons, promotes communication about books, fills them with confidence in their own reading ability and turns them into informed and enthusiastic library users."

Books and computers can work together to inspire children to read and so there’s an additional element to the Challenge – a state of the art website which uses the latest technology to introduce children to a dozen of the UK’s top authors including children’s laureate Michael Morpurgo.

The authors are all featured in their own special habitats – i.e. their favourite environment for writing, thinking and reading. By navigating around the site, visitors to the Reading Rollercoaster website can find out lots about the authors and their books and they can also pick up tips on writing and the creative process.

The challenge illustrates libraries’ key role in supporting the national literacy strategy, offering freedom of choice and encouraging enjoyment of reading outside the classroom. The vital significance of reading for enjoyment has been highlighted by The Reading for Change study, which found that a love of reading is more important for children’s educational success than their family’s wealth or class.