CHENANGO COUNTY – BOOKS (Books Open Opportunities for Kids to Succeed), a program funded by a state grant from Senator Tom Libous, will host a “Halfway There” party at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Arena Club in the Broome County Veterans’ Memorial Arena in downtown Binghamton.
BOOKS with Senator Libous has taken a unique position on reading programs for children for nearly 10 years. Rather than a reward for the number of books read, the program rewards readers for the time spent reading. The theroy in doing this is that it will persuade children to choose more challenging reading material and encourage struggling readers to read more.
According to the BOOKS program website, “It goes without saying that every parent wants their child to be successful in life, and the best way to do that is for your child to become a successful reader. Children who read well tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, get better jobs and become better earners.”
Reading Rewards is a year-round reading incentive program for preschool and school-aged children that provides them with free passes and gift cards to local museums, sporting events and businesses as rewards for time spent reading or being read to.
Some of the local sponsors – including the Colonia Movie Theater, Plaza Lanes, the Greene Bowlerdrome, the Kopernik Observatory, and McDonald’s – offer rewards as incentive to keep kids on track and engaged in reading throughout the year. The coveted final reward is a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble Booksellers.
Marcia Miller – who has served Regional Representative for the Sen. Libous BOOKS Program for more than 15 years – said, “Every library in Chenango County is a part of the BOOKS program; those libraries each get $300 annually in the form of a grant in which they use to invest into the children’s collections within the library.”
Each guest invited to the party read for more than 108 hours between June and December. This marks the halfway point in the 2013-2014 program and will encourage children to complete this year’s program by the May 31 deadline.
