So much happening this summer at Providence Community Library (PCL), which provides daily fun, great books, and special performances at nine neighborhood locations. The Library helps school age students get stamps for their Passports to Summer Learning, learn how to track their activities using Providence READsquared software, complete PCL game cards and earn prizes for reading just 20 minutes every day! Additionally, PCL’s Mobile Library will visit 10 Providence elementary Schools and 10 City-run Recreation Center camps on a regular weekly schedule and offer Ready for Kindergarten workshops for young children preparing to enter school in the fall. Families can access Providence Schools reading lists, eBooks, digital learning resources and stay up-to-date with the full schedule of programs and activities at www.provcomlib.org/summer.
Encouraging a child to read on a daily basis is the single most important thing a family can do for a child over the summer. Why is summer reading so important?
- Sixty percent of Providence students experience summer reading loss;
- Learning loss is cumulative over time and lower income children may suffer a chronic cycle compared to their wealthier peers, who are more likely to read over the summer;
- Teachers typically spend 4-6 weeks in the Fall teaching old skills that have been forgotten due to the “summer slide;”
- Reading just 20 minutes a day preserves reading skills and often increases them. Sign up for the Summer Reading Program and choose from thousands books and ebooks that can be borrowed from the Library for free!
- PCL’s Mobile Library will visit elementary schools from July 3 to August 18, thanks to a grant provided United Way of Rhode Island. The mobile library carries 4,000 popular books for youth readers as well as computers, WiFi access, a sound system, shade tents, tables and chairs, “life-size” board games and educational toys. Math coaches will provide hands-on math activities at each school site.
Monday:
9:00AM – 12:00PM Anthony Carnevale School, 50 Springfield Street (02909)*
1:30PM – 4:30PM Pleasant View School, 50 Obediah Brown Road (02909)
Tuesday:
9:00AM – 12:00PM Harry Kizirian School, 60 Camden Avenue (02908)*
1:30PM – 4:30PM William D’Abate School, 60 Kossuth Street (02909)
Wednesday
9:00AM – 12:00PM Feinstein at Sackett, 159 Sackett Street (02907)*
1:30PM – 4:30PM Frank D. Spaziano School, 85 Laurel Hill Ave./240 Laban St. (02909)
Thursday:
9:00AM – 12:00PM Young/Woods School, 674 Prairie Avenue (02905)*
1:30PM – 4:30PM Reservoir Avenue School, 156 Reservoir Avenue (02907)
Friday:
9:00AM – 12:00PM Mary Fogarty School, 199 Oxford Street (02905)*
1:30PM – 4:30PM Leviton Dual Language School, 65 Greenwich Street (02907)
*Ready for Kindergarten sites
Ready for Kindergarten programs for children entering Kindergarten in 2017 or 2018 will consist of weekly, two-hour, morning workshops running over seven weeks under shade tents, offering interactive learning stations, circle time and special story-telling and story acting exercises. Children must be accompanied by parent or caregiver. Contact Cheryl Space cspace@provcomlib.org to register or for more information.
The Mobile Library will provide services to Providence Recreation Day Camps taking place near to the school sites in a partnership with the Healthy Communities Office and Providence Recreation Department. Youth will read and participate in literacy-rich activities every day as part of their camp experience, led by Providence high school and college students who are being hired as part of Providence’s summer youth employment program.
Youth up to age 18 who visit the mobile library, either independently or with their families, will qualify for a free breakfast at the morning school sites (9:00 – 10:00) and a free lunch at the afternoon school sites (1:30 – 2:30) from July 3 to August 18 as part of the City of Providence’s Summer Meals Program. The Program is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program, which provides kids and teens in low-income areas with free meals during the long summer recess.
“We are delighted to support the Mayor’s summer learning initiative and work with our partners Providence Schools, the Healthy Communities Office and the Providence Recreation Department to keep Providence children reading and learning throughout the summer.” said PCL Library Director, Jeff Cannell. ”We want to create a love of lifelong learning in the students because that’s the most important thing that the library can do,” he added.
For more information about PCL’s summer learning opportunities, visit www.provcomlib.org/summer.
About the Passport to Summer Learning:
An initiative of Providence Public Library and presenting partners PCL, Mayor Jorge Elorza/City of Providence, and Providence Public Schools, the 2017 Passport to Summer Learning has been distributed to 15,000 students in grades K – 5. Now in its third year, the Passport to Summer Learning is a collaborative initiative to address summer learning loss and mitigate achievement gaps among children with the least access to community assets and educational resources. For more about the Passport to Summer Learning, visit http://hub.provlib.org/passport/
About the United Way RI Grant:
PCL’s grant for “Summer Reading in the Schoolyard” was awarded by United Way in 2016 for the 2016-2019 competitive grant cycle, with a focus on funding efforts that help kids fall in love with learning, help adults reach new career goals, and help families meet their basic needs. In total, United Way has awarded $3.1 million in grants among the $12 million it has committed through 2019 to help change the lives of 250,000 Rhode Islanders by 2020, the overarching goal of its new strategic plan, LIVE UNITED 2020.
IMAGES: The PCL Mobile Library; young artists at work in the open air at a mobile library site.
