"Dig Into Reading" at local libraries this summer

It's time for summer reading at the library! Here are details from the NH Department of Cultural Resources:

Summertime involves all sorts of digging: planting in the garden, searching for special shells and other treasures, learning more about creatures who live underground, and other exciting exploring.

Libraries are great places to start digging around for all kinds of information, activities and fun. This summer, children’s librarians across New Hampshire are participating in the national Collaborative Summer Library Program by creating special summertime programs based on this year’s slogan, “Dig Into Reading.”

Readers of all ages are encouraged to visit their libraries and make crafts, foods and music related to what can be discovered when you start to dig.

To participate in “Dig Into Reading,” families should visit their local public library. Most libraries ask children to register and then to keep track of how much time they spend reading or how many books they read during the summer months. Libraries may offer participants the opportunity to read whichever books they want, even if they’re not related to this summer’s theme. Children are encouraged to read as much as they can.

In keeping with the underground theme, some libraries are offering a summer reading program for teens, “Beneath the Surface”; this year’s theme for adult readers is “Groundbreaking Reads.”

Students who read during summer months retain more of their reading skills and are better prepared for school in the fall. The Collaborative Summer Reading Program helps encourage children to spend more time enjoying non-assigned reading during the summer months.

“One of the most fun things about summer is combining hands-on activities and learning,” said Ann Hoey, youth services coordinator for the New Hampshire State Library and member of the Children’s Librarians of New Hampshire. “This year’s summer reading theme encourages everyone to explore things that aren’t right out in the open by doing a little ‘digging’ and discovering something they might not have thought of before.”

The New Hampshire State Library promotes excellence in libraries and library services to all New Hampshire residents, by assisting libraries and the people of New Hampshire with rapid access to library and informational resources through the development and coordination of a statewide library/information system; by meeting the informational needs of New Hampshire’s state, county and municipal governments and its libraries; and by serving as a resource for New Hampshire. For more information, visit www.nh.gov/nhsl.