Catherine Coles
The TD Summer Reading Club is a free program for kids orchestrated by Library and Archives Canada and sponsored by TD Bank. It’s big – and getting bigger every year. A recent tally of TD Summer Reading Club numbers shows the significant impact of the program: there have been 831,546 participants in more than 45,000 programs delivered by 2,050 library branches across the country. The purpose of the program is to encourage early literacy and to counter summer learning loss from being away from school-but most importantly, it celebrates recreational reading. In recent years, L&A Libraries’ local program has also expanded to include teens and adults. Like last year, the L&A’s 2021 program will be virtual.
Participants are encouraged to register via the READsquared platform (http://countylibrary.readsquared.com/) where they can earn points for reading books, completing missions, and participating in virtual events. Kids and tots are required to track their reading minutes whereas teens and adults track the number of books read. Points can be cashed in for brag tags and ballots for a grand prize draw. Each week this summer, new content and challenges will be added to the READsquared page by local library staff.
The reading program is complemented by a lineup of interactive events. This year’s events, which will take place live via Zoom, will include science experiments by Scientists in School, Lego demonstrations, storytimes, coding creations, and more to be announced. There will be regular bingo and trivia programs, which will allow TD Summer Reading Club participants to accumulate additional points.
Registration opened on June 15. Participants who register by July 1st will be entered to win a family prize pack featuring an Ontario Parks Pass.
TD Summer Reading Club 2020 statistics:
- 96% of parents/caregivers (English) said their child maintained or improved their reading skills
- 97% of kids will consider joining the Club again
- 96% of children increased or maintained their enjoyment of reading
- 95% of parents/caregivers said the Club maintained or increased their child’s confidence
- 87% of children read more often or the same amount