All Together Now is the theme for this year’s summer reading club from the Amarillo Public Library and sign up begins on June 1!

APL has provided a summer reading club to Amarillo library patrons for more than seventy years—offering fun, free, educational activities for all ages, as well as a chance to win prizes by developing a habit of daily reading.

APL Coordinator of Youth Services Melody Boren says this summer’s program will be busier than ever.  “Our staff have outdone themselves this year.  We have programs in art, science, and music, as well as partnership programs with the Amarillo Zoo, Randall County Master Gardeners, Amarillo Animal Management & Welfare, Amarillo Public Health, and the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum.  There truly is something for everyone in this year’s Summer Reading Club.”

Research shows that participation in library summer reading clubs can make a huge difference in combatting the very real and well-documented phenomenon known as the “summer slide.”  Kids who don’t read over the summer can lose as much as 20 percent of the knowledge and skills they acquired during the school year—and that effect can snowball over time.  But students who participate in library summer reading programs can hold steady, or even gain ground over the summer.  Studies also show that the positive effects of participation hold true despite differences in English proficiency or economic status, and that participants outperform nonparticipants on tests across all measures and grades (K–8).

To sign up for AMARILLO READS in the SUMMER, visit any one of APL’s five locations to register and receive a complete calendar of events and a reading log.  Participants who read for at least 15 minutes per day for 30 days complete the program and win the final prize—a brand-new book for kids or a voucher for a bag of books at the Friends of the Amarillo Public Library Book Sale for adults.

For more information, contact Stacy Clopton at 806-378-3051 or Stacy.Clopton@amarillolibrary.org.