In an effort to get more kids reading and boost library membership, the Reading Railroad program run by the Boyle Public Library is providing a fun way for residents of all ages to lose themselves in a good book.
Participants in the Shell-sponsored winter reading program are asked to log the amount of time they are reading through the month of February, and if they log five or more hours (at least 300 minutes), they are entered into a draw for a chance to win a Kobo eReader, which will likely happen in March.
The only other requirement is a library membership ñ a mere $10 for adults, $5 for children, $7 for seniors and $20 for families for the year.
The Kobo eReader is a tablet device approximately half an inch thin that can store up to 60,000 e-books, depending on the model. Users are afforded 10 hours of active battery life.
ìAny kind of extra-curricular reading ñ teachers know; they can tell that you read to your kids, they can tell the kids read,î said Kathy Bulmer, the librarian who coordinates the winter reading program and has run the summer program for almost 20 years.
ìIt improves their comprehension,î said Bulmer. She said even if she had only a handful of people join, she would still run the winter reading program again next year.
The winter reading program is a newer program that came to fruition as a result of the popularity of the summer reading program, which spans for two months from July and August and typically sees 60 participants and has been a staple of the Boyle Library for more than 20 years.
Once readers have completed their five hours, they hand their log over to Bulmer, who forwards them on to Northern Lights, another sponsor of the winter reading program, and the library system for Boyle Public Library and other areas such as Athabasca, Grassland and Rochester.
ìI think (the traffic) has increased. People that have always come to the library still come, no matter what,î said Bulmer.
