Children get set for Summer Reading Challenge!

Storylab is the theme of this years Summer Reading Challenge. Children need to read 6 books to complete the challenge

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Libraries across the borough are about to introduce young people to the UK’s biggest reading event for young people, to keep them busy over the summer holidays. The 14th Summer Reading Challenge will be launched in July and it’s all free.

Children can sign up at their local library from 7 July, and it runs until 15 September. Once completed, your child will receive a personalised certificate. Everyone who signs up for the Summer Reading Challenge can keep track of the books they read and receive encouragement to keep reading all summer long.

The theme this year is Story Lab - a celebration of stories, fun and imagination.

Story Lab will have a link to the 2012 Olympics and is an official project in the Cultural Olympiad's London 2012 Festival.

Organisers, the National Reading Agency describe Story Lab as: “an imaginative adventure that knows no bounds”. The brainchild of Professor Cortex, it is a hi-tech “Story HQ” that attracts stories from all over the world, sending them spinning throughout the city and beyond! Professor Cortex has asked the Story Lab kids - Will, Rani, Evie and Lex - to recover three lost items and bring them back to the Story Lab.

Councillor Peter Williams, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Customer Services said: “It's fun for children and it doesn't cost a penny to join”. He added that “The Summer Reading Challenge is designed for children of all ages and reading abilities. They can read any books they like - fact books, stories, joke books, picture books - it's up to them. Audio books count too, as long as you're borrowing them from the library, they all count.”

There are large print Summer Reading Challenge materials available for visually impaired children too, thanks to the support of the RNIB National Library Service.

Also available on the Story Lab website is information for parents and carers visiting their local library about the benefits for children doing the Summer Reading Challenge as well as lots of fun activities for children. They also suggest ways of supporting children during the challenge and provide joint reading ideas for the whole family during the summer.