Rochester Hills Public Library opens the book on summer reading

ROCHESTER HILLS/ROCHESTER/OAKLAND TOWNSHIP — The Rochester Hills Public Library is once again inviting youth, teens and adults to make reading and other programming at the library a part of their summer plans.

Readers of all ages and abilities can sign up for the summer reading program by visiting rhpl.beanstack.org or downloading the free Beanstack app and signing up using an active Rochester Hills Public Library card. Once enrolled, patrons can start logging their reading time online to earn rewards and prizes through Aug. 8.

“Every year, Rochester Hills Public Library hosts our summer reading program, which is an incentive-based challenge to keep people of all ages reading through the summer months,” said Library Director Juliane Morian.

The program allows patrons to enjoy books of their choice, at their own pace, and it also helps young people maintain their reading levels for the upcoming school year.

“Reading over the summer helps keep your mind active,” said Wendy Lehman, head of youth services.

“The primary reason why we do it is to prevent summer slide,” added Morian. “But this is not the fun kind of slide for summer. The summer slide refers to when students lose their hard-earned education and knowledge that they gained over the school year. Those three months of summer tend to lead to a little bit of brain rot, and we find that by reading over the summer months, they actually retain that knowledge going into the next school year.”

The only rule for summer reading is to read every day, and there are no required titles or time limits. All forms of reading count — including e-books, audiobooks, graphic novels, articles and reading out loud to a loved one.

“We want to make reading a habit, regardless of what age you are,” Morian said. “When I talk to adults, I like to tell them that we hope that they get caught reading, because it’s a wonderful way to model reading as a hobby and habit for the young people in their lives.”

To participate, all patrons have to do is read every week to earn entries for the end-of-summer grand prize drawing and complete five of the library’s suggestions for free summer fun to win a limited edition summer reading pin. Everyone who participates in the library’s summer reading challenge will also receive a free book.

The library will celebrate a successful summer of reading 6-8 p.m. Aug. 7 at its Summer Sunset Block Party. Sign up for the sidewalk chalk competition, and enjoy free dinner, live music and entertainment for everyone.

Last year, 1,942 individuals registered for the library’s summer reading program.

“We are so close to surpassing 2,000 people this year, so we have set that as our new goal,” Morian noted.

The library is also trying to engage residents in a community-wide challenge.

“Our goal is that, as a community, we all read more than 15,000 books. We think it’s kind of a cool way to have a sense of belonging and a shared goal in the greater Rochester community,” she said.

For a complete lineup of the library’s free programming and events, visit rhpl.org/events. For more information, call the library at (248) 656-2900 or visit rhpl.org.