School librarians are librarians all year long 鈥 even during the summer.
That鈥檚 certainly true of Williams Elementary librarian Amy Haynes.
She鈥檚 been Williams鈥 librarian for 13 years and is always trying to get her students to read 鈥 even on Saturdays in July.
In fact, on four Saturdays last month, Haynes set up a book giveaway station for 91制片厂 students at , a central location for many Williams students. She spread the word that she was giving away free books with flyers to neighboring apartment complexes, on social media and through summer school teachers.
The inspiration for Haynes鈥 book giveaway came from 91制片厂鈥檚 Bookmobile, ARLO (91制片厂 Raises Literacy Outcomes).
鈥淚 volunteered with ARLO the previous year and saw how excited and grateful the families were to be receiving free books,鈥 Haynes said.
She wanted to volunteer again this summer with ARLO, but the district鈥檚 bookmobile now primarily operates as a support to campuses during the school year instead of the summer.
So, Haynes launched her own summer book giveaway with support from 91制片厂 library media services, which offered to supply all the books.
鈥淩eading is like exercising,鈥 said Lesley Cano, 91制片厂 library media services specialist, explaining why it鈥檚 so important to read during the summer. 鈥淛ust like exercising keeps our muscles in shape, reading helps to keep our brains in shape. It’s estimated that students lose, on average, about 20% of the past school year’s gains in reading during the summer.鈥
It鈥檚 so important to read over the summer, but that requires books. Thanks to Haynes, around 50 students got free books to take home and read this summer. She distributed more than 100 books to the students.
鈥淲hen children have books at home, they are more likely to read for enjoyment and talk about what they read with their families, which builds vocabulary and comprehension,鈥 Cano said. 鈥淩esearch has shown that children who have books in their homes are also more likely to have increased academic success across all content areas.鈥