Summer reading program starts June 1

“A Universe of Stories” is this year’s Montgomery Summer Reading Program. Pre-K through teens are welcome to sign up for the program featuring fun-filled activities, events and prizes, many with a space theme. Registration begins Sat., June 1 at 9 a.m.

The program is designed to encourage kids to read over the summer so they don’t lose the reading skills they learned over the school year.

The theme this year is titled A Universe of Stories to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing.

If children do not have access to books and do not read, students must spend a great deal of the next school year catching back up to previous skill levels and will likely never catch up to their peers.

According to the School Library Jourdan, “[The summer slide] accounts for about 80% of the reading gap between low- and middle-income families—three years by the end of eighth grade, according to University of Tennessee researchers Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen. In part, the reason for this is lower-income kids’ limited access to books—in their homes, libraries, or bookstores—during the summer, the scholars have found. By the end of high school, the gap is typically four years.”

See more in the print edition, including the schedule of events during the summer.