Parents like Holly Elstun are avid supporters of this program and think it’s very important. She thinks the Summer Reading Program benefits children and parents and says, it “keeps them busy during the summer and something to do with a goal to meet.”
The Summer Reading Program is a nation-wide program that has been around since as far back as the 1890s. This was first started by organizations like the Cleveland Library League and Caroline Hewitts from Hartford, Connecticut. The first programs were targeted towards school children in urban areas. They attempted to create reading a life-long habit. By 1929, themes for each program were developed.
According to William Paterson University, “reading is essential for acquiring knowledge and creating pathways to greater learning, equitability, creativity, performance, and well-being, and empathy.” People use reading skills everyday, William Paterson University says, they can “refer to their background knowledge to make connections from what they know to what they want to learn.”
A University of Chicago study showed less than 20 percent who were reading below their grade level attended college opposed to the 60 percent who read at or above their grade level…