Camas library’s annual Summer Reading Program kicks off June 17

The Camas Public Library’s annual nine-week-long Summer Reading Program will kick off Saturday, June 17. 

“EEach year, the library plans a Summer Reading Program for all ages to promote reading,” Camas Public Library Director Connie Urquhart told Camas City Council members Monday, June 5, during the Council’s workshop.

The program is meant to promote the joy of reading, Urquhart said, but also to prevent “the summer slide.”
“(Students) tend to lose a bit of their reading skills in the summer – up to two months on average,” Urquhart said. “Year after year, it’s a cumulative effect. We try to stop that from happening by making reading fun, and getting them into the library with fun events.” 

This year’s Summer Reading Program theme is “Find Your Voice” and will offer a few new incentives, Urquhart said. 

“Participants can track their reading online or on a game board, and they’ll earn a prize for every 10 days of reading,” she explained. “After 30 days of reading, participants will receive a scratch-off ticket for a chance to win a larger prize. After 40 days of reading, they’ll receive another scratch-off ticket, this time for a chance to win a grand prize.”

The library’s Summer Reading Program has a variety of events planned for the summer of 2023, including Storytime in the Park; a pop-up museum, an art walk, “tiny art” show and a pegasus-themed puppet show. 

“We have some events in the meeting rooms … and some will be outside, in parks and around town,” Urquhart said. 

The library, located at 625 N.E. Fourth Ave., in downtown Camas, will host a Summer Reading Program kick-off event at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 17. Participants can pick up their game board to track reading throughout the program, and the library will have stamps for the first 100 children who take a gameboard, as well as “Summer Reading” totes for the first 25 teens and adults who pick up their game boards on June 17. 

The public can find upcoming Summer Reading Program events and more information about the program, which runs June 17 through Aug. 19, online at cityofcamas.us/library/page/summer-reading-program.