Summer reading program underway

School may be out for the season, but kids can still keep up on their reading skills while picking up some fun gear with the library's summer reading program.

Starting up on June 1, Irene Ingle Public Library's annual program encourages students to read books in exchange for tickets, which can be entered into drawings for a variety of prizes and cash drawings.

The vast majority of

the library's books for children about 80 to 90 percent of

them have corresponding tests on the Renaissance Learning Accelerated Reader (AR)

program, which is in

use by Evergreen Elementary School.

"We had all the elementary school classes visit the library a couple of weeks ago," said head librarian Margaret Villarma. The kids were walked through the program, shown where to find books and how to access the AR tests.

The reading program helps the school system by encouraging students to stay up to speed, preventing "summer slide," or the tendency to forget some of the lessons learned the year before and so retread a bit in the fall. To assist it, the school has loaned the library laptops loaded with the testing software for use in its reading program. Based on the difficulty of the read, each book is assigned a particular number of points, which its readers earn if they pass an AR test.

Points translate into tickets, which the child can allot to the drawing jars of their choice. The library's shelves are topped with an array of them, each corresponding to a prize. These can be small sums of cash or else larger name-brand toys, Kindle e-readers and even recreational drones.

In all, there are more than 140 to choose from. Prizes this year were contributed by the Friends of the Library, area businesses and Alaska Airlines.

"It's pretty well supported by the community," said Margaret Villarma, Irene Ingle's head librarian.

Over 120 children have been registered so far, and participants over the summer who have accrued 10 points or more by July 30 will be invited to attend the program-end pool party on Aug. 6. A grant will go to fund the celebration, with pizza and door prizes for all comers.

Students need to be registered by June 30 to fully participate. The program is open to youth visiting from out of town as well, such as grandchildren visiting for the July 4 festivities. Relatives can preregister ahead of the visit at the library's front desk.

In other library news, this year the Irene Ingle Library has applied for an Institute of Museums and Library Services grant for $7,000. This money will help pay for interlibrary loan costs, large print options, and other books. It also helps pay for travel for the staff to its yearly library conference.