Updated 6/3/20


The  Giles  County  Public  Library has kicked off their 2020 Summer reading program for local families.
Program  Coordinator  DeAnne  Parker,  Children’s Librarian Susan Hickman and Teen  Services Librarian Elizabeth Roller visited WKSR Bonus Hour today (Wednesday) to explain activities that are planned this summer.
This year theme is  “Imagine Your Story,” which is centered around all kinds of stories, including tall tales,  folk tales, personal family stories, global fables and fractured fairy-tales.
Parker said this year the library is utilizing for the first time an online program called READsquared to manage the participants’ reading logs.
“READsquared is a program designed to encourage lifelong reading  habits, and we hope everyone will take advantage of it,”  Parker said.
 Every  family  member is encouraged to participate.  Pre-readers (ages 0 to 4), young readers (ages 5 thru 12),  teens and adults can all register.
Through READsquareders will receive age appropriate  book recommendations and activities from  their  local  librarians.  Users log  books read or  minutes read to accumulate points towards the overall  summer reading  goal.  
Children can personalize their accounts with an avatar and can view their accomplishments throughout the  summer,  giving  them  a  visual  incentive to continue reading.
“We want to make sure that children maintain  their  reading  skills over the summer  break, and not  succumb to the famous summer  slide,” Parker said.
Roller added they are trying to make it easier on parents and families to do things together and  get  some  enjoyment  in  this  tough time.
Hickman will be decorating the library’s front windows  each  week  with  a “Weekly Window Wonder” that includes a coordinating activity such as guessing games and riddles.
Roller said they will continue to offer the online activities for the teens that have been successful during this quarantine, as well as online pop-up activities as the summer goes on.