Summer Reading

Maggie Schumacher contributed this post. Click here to read more of Maggie's thinking.

Take a deep breath and relax... It’s summer break! You’ve survived the school year (hopefully in one piece) and I hope you are enjoying some downtime and all of your favorite activities. Summer brings us an annual opportunity to reenergize, rejuvenate, refresh, and do some continued learning and prep for the next school year.

Not surprisingly, one of my favorite summer activities is reading. For me, the best part about reading in the summer is that I can read books at my own pace, when and where I want to read them, and I can expand beyond my sole reading of adolescent and professional literature! There is joy to be found in these little freedoms. To me, this is relaxing. I have many books that I’ve purchased throughout the school year that have been piled high just waiting to be cracked open. As good as my intentions always are, the reality is that I never get as much time to read during the school year as I hope to get. In the summer, I can take this stack of books home and read at my leisure. I can read in the backyard, on vacation, and or a beach. I can stay up late to finish a book or I can enjoy a lazy morning reading before I venture out of bed.

It’s important to promote the importance of summer reading to our students. It’s also necessary to provide students with access to resources over the summer months. Not all of our students go home to a print-rich environment. It’s important that we inform our students (and their parents/guardians) of resources at their disposal, so they aren’t without access all summer long. In the Baraboo School District, we make sure students and parents know the location of public libraries and Little Free Libraries. Students are encouraged to utilize the e-library for both our middle school and for the public library and assistance is provided to help students sign up before the end of the school year. They can check out and return books on their personal devices with the touch of a finger. At the elementary level, books have been gathered/collected for distribution to students in a format similar to a Little Free Library. Students can take home as many books as they choose. If they bring them back, great! If they don’t, these books will have found a good home. Some schools and teachers set up summer reading challenges for students in an effort to promote more reading. Whatever ideas we have and share, we know that not all students will take advantage of literacy resources over the summer. However, for every student who does, we will have found a thin slice of success.

Just as it is important for students to read and relax in the summer, it is equally important to encourage our peer educators to read, relax, and reflect over the summer months. This could involve setting up a summer book club to discuss a professional book, adolescent book, or a book chosen for pleasure. It could also involve sending out hot summer reading recommendations or offering to have staff members check out books from the school’s or your professional collection. It might involve reading a magazine or the newspaper, an e-book or a novel, or it could be reading for professional growth, to kids, or for pleasure. What better way to escape from reality than through a good book? Regardless of whether you read or not, whatever your summer brings you, I hope it brings you joy!