Library fosters a love of reading

This summer, stretching from the early days of June to the dog days of August, the El Dorado County Library in Placerville captivated readers with the Summer Reading Club.

Following a “Nighttime” theme created by the American Library Association, the children’s department encouraged kids through fifth grade to “Dream Big, READ.”

Teens and preteens were challenged to “Own the Night” while adult readers, 18 and older, lost themselves “Between the Covers” of books.

The final numbers are in and, always a success, this summer’s Reading Club shined brighter than all the previous ones.

Stretching from the pristine shores of South Lake Tahoe down to the beautifully manicured neighborhoods of El Dorado Hills, children swarmed to the libraries for books, programs and prizes.

More than 1,000 kids, through fifth grade, completed Summer Reading Club logs. Storytimes, puppet shows, wild animals, a pirate ship and more entertained and educated the nearly 9,000 children who attended the more than 150 Summer Reading Club programs.

And if you wonder what teens do during those long summer months, many of them spent the time reading and hanging out at the library. Close to 200 teens turned in book reviews for the four largest library branches — the main library in Placerville and branches in Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills and South Lake Tahoe.

At the El Dorado County Library in Placerville, 31 teens turned in more than 200 book reviews between them, one industrious teen reading 20 books during June and July. About 1,000 teens attended the more than 50 programs ranging from film showings to art projects, from pizza parties to video game tournaments.

For those people who don’t think adults are reading anymore, the nearly 300 participants from the libraries in Placerville, Cameron Park and South Lake Tahoe would argue otherwise. And the number of books read by those adults is astounding.

At the El Dorado County Library in Placerville, for example, the 136 adult Summer Reading Club participants read an amazing 883 books.

Over 450 people attended the more than 25 programs offered by the libraries. Programs included writing workshops and author visits, gardening demonstrations and tracing family roots, ghost hunters and bat exhibits.

Whether it’s summer, fall, winter or spring the El Dorado County Library is the place to go for free life-enhancing programs, books, resources and more.

The library personnel hope that next summer you will find yourself taking the Summer Reading Club challenge.

For more library event information contact a local library branch or visit the library programs and events calendar on the library’s Website eldoradolibrary.org.