A great nation is a reading nation
Published: November 16, 2005
Monday, Nov. 14, marked the beginning of the 86th annual Children’s Book Week. As Frederic Melcher said back in 1919: “Children’s Book Week brings us together to talk about books and reading and, out of our knowledge and love of books, to put the cause of children’s reading squarely before the whole community and, community by community, across the whole nation. For a great nation is a reading nation.”
This is a wonderful time to be thinking about books for children. Kids in Jackson County are reading more than ever according to the statistics from last year’s summer reading programs in the Jackson County libraries. Overall, 14 percent more kids signed up for the program than in the previous year. But what’s even more impressive is that 43 percent more children read at least 10 books over the summer and many went on to read 20, 25 or 30 books. More than 5,500 Jackson County kids participated this year, reading more than 54,000 books!
The libraries get help from many community groups and businesses to present this program every year. The all-volunteer Friends of the Library groups in each community work hard all year at book sales and other events to raise money to help fund prizes and programs. We also had contributions this year from HomeTown Buffet, the Mail Tribune, the Medford Railroad Park, Mellelo’s Coffee Roasters, OSU’s Extension Service, Papa Murphy’s, Round Table Pizza and Umpqua Bank. Several of these businesses have been supporters for many years, helping to promote delight in reading among our children.
The theme for this year’s Children’s Book Week is IMAGINE! And that’s just what books help us do: imagine a far-off land, a distant past, a better future, things that have never existed but might someday. Books help children develop the power of imagination and, as Muhammad Ali once said: “A man who has no imagination has no wings.”
To find lists of good books for children (a good thing to do before going Christmas shopping!), visit the Jackson County Library Web site: www.jcls.org.
Click on the drop-down menu under the heading “Children’s Services” and then on books. Here you’ll find new books, classic books, books for every age level, even the Kids Top 100 Books list — books they voted for themselves. To learn more about children and reading, check out “Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever” by Mem Fox.
“Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime I fell in love in the library Once upon a time.”
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