General News
7 January, 2025
Prioritising summer reading
The Public Libraries Victoria’s BIG Summer Read returns for another warm season for all kids to enter. It doesn’t matter if you read many different books or just the one multiple times, it’s the act of reading that matters.
This summer reading campaign for all children and young people up to 18 years old aims to encourage them to read for pleasure and address the loss of literacy over the summer break if kids aren’t reading.
According to Public Libraries Victoria, studies found that children involved in programs such as these experience the equivalent of attending three years of summer school with the most economically disadvantaged children gaining the most from these initiatives.
This puts the BIG Summer Read in an important position locally considering the Dropping Off the Edge 2021 study consistently ranks Maryborough as one of the most disadvantaged postcodes in Victoria.
However, addressing the “summer slide” isn’t the only reason to get involved. Maree Stephenson, co-ordinator of library services, said it helps maintain the habit of reading between parent and child.
“You’ve got so much going on you get out of that habit of reading to your child or getting your child to read to you. I think it works both ways. You don’t want to be that parent that goes ‘no, you have to read a book’ you want to make it enjoyable so this sort of thing can,” she said.
The BIG Summer Read is designed to not be perscriptive like schools can be. Instead, as Ms Stephenson described, it’s about making books fun.
“It’s open slather, just take what’s your interest,” she said.
“The summer reading program is more reading for pleasure, not having that you have to do so many pages per night. It’s more the enjoyment of good books.”
As long as a young person logs ten books they’re able to enter for the prize. In the previous winter read someone from Maryborough won the statewide prize.
“If your five year old loves reading this one specific book you can read that book five times and log it five times. Every one of those is beneficial,” she said.