Try something new with Kalona summer reading

By Molly Roberts
Posted 6/21/22

On Tuesday, June 14, the Kalona Public Library hosted a kick-off party for their summer reading program, inviting readers of all ages to “Read off the beaten path” this …

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Try something new with Kalona summer reading

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On Tuesday, June 14, the Kalona Public Library hosted a kick-off party for their summer reading program, inviting readers of all ages to “Read off the beaten path” this summer.

“Read Beyond the Beaten Path is our theme this year, which a kind of camp-themed, like a trail that you might find in a park or a campsite,” said Director of Youth Services Olivia Kahler. “The idea to read beyond it is to read something that you wouldn’t pick up otherwise, to read something that you don’t normally gravitate towards.”

Participants can register until the end of June, which only involves coming in, writing down your child’s name, age a t-shirt size and picking up a calendar and a reading log to complete.

For every 20 minutes the kids spend reading, they get to color in a spot on the reading log. When all 50 spots are full, readers can bring back their log and that’s when they get their t-shirt, a swimming pool pass to the Kalona Pool, a Yotty’s ice cream token and a free book of their choice.

“Something called the summer slump is the reason we have the summer reading program. We don’t want kids to fall behind, we want them to keep up with their reading until the school year starts,” Kahler said. “Kids, no matter their age, read at different levels. If you say to a kid that they need to read 65 pages, they might just pick up several picture books and read 65 pages of a picture book, instead of something that’s at their level. If it’s a fourth or fifth grader who’s doing that, you know they could be reading chapter books. We went with time simply because it pushes them to read what they enjoy reading for that 20 minutes.”

The summer reading program also has a young adult section, where young adults can fill out a bingo activity card with activities like reading genre-specific books (“read a fantasy” or “read a graphic novel”) as well as activities like “read outside” or “bake a recipe out of a cookbook.”

Adults also have their branch of the summer reading program, where readers are given 10 genres and must choose four of them to read.

“Then, at the end of the summer, we’re going to make a display of some of the book that people chose,” Kahler said. “We’re hoping to get a wide array of different books that people read this summer.”

The summer reading program also comes with many programs for kids and families to enjoy. In July, the young adults will be making mini survival kits and in August they will have a color war with colored powder.

Other programs include Movie Mondays, with more programs at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Story Time on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and Toddler Time on Fridays at 10 a.m. 

Kahler said she hopes the summer reading program will help readers find a new book or genre that they love, which they otherwise wouldn’t think about reading. She hopes readers will challenge themselves by broadening their horizons.

“I asked this morning at story time, ‘How many of you like Dog Man?’ which is our most popular graphic novel. I had about three fourths of the group raise their hand,” Kahler said. “Then I said, ‘How many of you like to read nonfiction biographies about past presidents?’ and I had one child raise their hand. So I said, ‘There you go, this person will be able to help all you Dog Man lovers find something new and different and maybe you’ll learn that you love it.’