BY KAREN BOSSICK
Don’t let your child succumb to summer learning loss.
A coalition of schools, libraries and others will show how children can avoid their brains turning to mush over the next three months during the 5B Reads Summer Literacy Fair from 6 to 7 p.m. tonight—Wednesday, May 29—at Hailey Elementary School.
Various booths will offer information on summer reading programs, while principals scoop ice cream for all those who show up. There also will be a scavenger hunt, raffle prizes and free books.
Sixteen thousand libraries across the country plan to take part in this year’s summer reading program, which revolves around “A Universe of Stories” theme. The program, organized by the Collaborative Summer Library Program, will celebrate space exploration, paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in July.
The idea: To inspire children of all ages to dream big, believe in themselves and create their own story as they earn the opportunities to color rocket and alien spaces on a game page and complete space activity sheets.
The Hailey Public Library will kick off its Summer Reading Program tonight at the fair. The Community Library will kick off its summer reading program on Monday, June 3. And the Bellevue Public Library will launch its program, dubbed “To Infinity and Beyond,” with a space-themed party on Wednesday, June 12.
The programs are offered free and will include prizes for youngsters who are diligent with their reading.
The evening is sponsored by Cox Communications, Bloom Truck, The Hunger Coalition, The Community Library, Hailey Public Library, Bellevue Library, Blaine County School District libraries, Girls on the Run, the ERC, YMCA, BCRD, Project Tools Success, Idaho Libraries Commission, Log Cabin Literary Center, Miss Rosa’s Summer Spanish Camp and others.