College Park School students are participating in a week-long initiative encouraging children to foster a love of reading.
Library Week is acknowledged by schools across Saskatchewan every year between October 18-24.
Anna Ratcliffe, College Park School’s Library Technician, said the school has arranged activities for each day of the week that incentivize students to hit the books.
On Wednesday, the school participated in DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time where students were provided with 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to read via books or ebooks.
She stated reading regularly will help the children’s educational and cognitive development.
“It increases vocabulary and understanding and it’s good for providing a foundation for learning. You can learn new ideas, new information, and you can learn more about yourself and the rest of the world.”
The theme of this year’s Library Week is how libraries are resilient in changing times.
In College Park, the school library is operating under different procedures because of the current health concerns.
Instead of entering a library, which often sees heavy traffic, students can sign up to have books brought to them.
Ratcliffe said the event is being well-received by students as they promote the activities throughout the school and to the school board.
One Grade 7 student said he is enjoying the Library Week activities, mentioning reading is one of his favourite hobbies.
“It’s a great way to chill out and calm down since we can’t really go outside anymore.”
The school is hosting reading activities throughout the week.
This includes a competition where students can guess the number of books in the school library to win books for their classroom.