Reading all the way through summer

Lauren Vane

The summer reading program at the Huntington Beach Children’s Library

kicked off appropriately with a celebration of reading at the annual

Festival of Folktales.

The library’s summer reading program attracts more than 4,000

local children each year, and what better way to get them excited

about reading than a cultural carnival of games, storytelling and, of

course, lots and lots of books?

Principal librarian Nancy Williams said seeing the happy smiles

from children at events such as these is her favorite part about her

job.

“You just can’t beat that kind of reward,” Williams said.

The plaza in front of the library bustled with parents and

children enjoying everything from face painting to a bean-bag toss,

all the while bopping along to the music of steel drum band

Sapadilla.

The reading program began June 21 and will continue until school

starts in the fall. Children of all reading levels can participate.

Readers who register at any Huntington Beach library branch receive a

reading log where they can keep track of the books they have read or

parents have read to them.

When a child makes eight weekly visits to the library or reads 10

or more books, they are rewarded with prizes and a ticket to the

program finale, an end-of-summer concert in the park.

The main goal of the summer reading program is to encourage

children to visit the library and keep up their reading while they’re

not in school, Williams said.

“It’s fabulous; it’s a wonderful program,” said Clare Shweyk, who

works at the library and also has children -- a boy and girl ages 8

and 10 -- who participate. This year’s theme: Super Readers, Super

Heroes, is very enticing to the children, Williams said.

“It [the reading program] has a whole lot of cool prizes,” said

9-year-old Kelvin Leu, who has signed up for the program for the past

four years.

Before school let out this spring, the library promoted the

reading program by sending bookmarks to every child in Huntington

Beach, Williams said. Having parents involved in the reading program

with their children is important because it introduces parents to

quality children’s literature, Williams said.

The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Children’s Library, a

group of parents and community members who volunteer their time to

raise money for the children’s library. The volunteers play an active

role at the library and events such as the Festival of Folktales

would not be possible without their help, Williams said.

Last year the Friends raised $50,000 toward purchasing library

books, said volunteer Connie Tomsick.

Tomsick, who remembers her son visiting the library when he was a

toddler, volunteers because she believes the library is a wonderful

program for local children.

“It really is a gem of the city, this library,” she said.