KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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Libraries across the Kansas City metro are launching summer reading programs to help prevent learning loss.
Scholastic reported children in third through fifth grades lose, on average, about 20% of their school-year reading gains during the summer break.
"For kids, it helps them to reduce the summer slide, so when they go back to school in the fall, they're better equipped and more prepared to go back to school. But really, we just want people to really have fun enjoying their reading and have it be a fun activity," said Jennifer Adamson, Olathe Public Library programs manager.
The Olathe Public Library kicked off its summer reading program on Tuesday with crowds of people coming to grab their first books of the summer.
The initiative isn't limited to Olathe. The Kansas City Public Library, Mid-Continent Public Library, Kansas City Kansas Public Library, and Johnson County Library all have unique challenges with the same mission: keeping kids, teens and adults engaged in reading throughout summer.
"It's not related to school," Adamson said. "There's no tests, there's no homework, it's just truly whatever you want to read."
At the Olathe Library, readers can earn prizes simply by logging the books they read.
"We just want people to have fun reading and read what they can for children and adults and teens," Adamson said. "We have different levels of prizes. So the first prize for everybody is if you log one book, you get a free book."
All of the libraries mentioned will give out free books for registering or by reaching reading milestones. This is on purpose — having books readily available at home makes it easier to maintain reading habits, which is the ultimate goal of these programs.
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