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A New Summer Tune to Close the Reading Gap

By Amber Garbe and Paula Bartel
 | Jun 21, 2016

LT336_Book Cycle3I am sure you’re familiar with a certain summer tune—the one announcing that the ice cream truck is on its way.

But imagine this: Instead of indicating a vessel full of treats is making its trip down the street, a new tune signals something entirely different—opportunities for summer reading.

That’s the case in our community of Stevens Point, WI, where children come running to get their hands on picture books and chapter books instead of ice cream cones and water ice.

We call it the Book Cycle. Sponsored by the Central Wisconsin Reading Council, it is an adult-sized tricycle complete with a basket stocked with a variety of high-interest texts, and it is ridden by a book devourer ready to help whet the appetites of enthusiastic and reluctant readers alike.

The goal is simple: Match students with a book that leads them to pick up another book and then another, igniting the passion for reading.

Witnessing the excitement

Educational researchers have found that one of the simplest ways to hook kids into a lifelong love of reading is to provide access to high-quality texts. The Book Cycle provides just that—fingertip access to texts children can select for the pure pleasure and intrigue offered by the title, cover, images, and text.

The Book Cycle brings a level of excitement to kids. It even becomes part of the neighborhood social scene as a community gathers at the book cart to find their next read, which sometimes starts as soon as the bike pedals off.

As volunteer riders, we’ve looked over our shoulders to capture the beautiful view of siblings enjoying a book on the stoop of their front porch. At another stop, we’ve seen children select a book and begin reading under the shade of a tree. As cofounders, those moments bring us heart-thumping pleasure.

The inspiration for the project was borne out of children’s need for access to books during the summer. In 2006, our school welcomed several Hmong refugee immigrants, all whohad tremendous interest in books but little access. Many other children attending the school also had limited access to books over the summer. Transportation to a public library was difficult, which only accentuated the problem.

As members of our local reading council, we looked to our colleagues to help get the idea of a summer mobile library off the ground. Through fundraising and the generous support of local businesses, the Central Wisconsin Reading Council raised funds for two trikes and materials for our lending library to begin the mobile library in the summer of 2009.

Our Book Cycle trikes have been cruising the Stevens Point streets two afternoons per week during the months of June, July, and August for the past seven years, making stops along the way at spots marked by yard signs declaring: “The Book Cycle Stops Here: Come and Get a Free Book.”

Although the design of the mobile library is an exchange system, which increases the distribution, the system is informal and the emphasis is on matching children and books. If a child isn’t able to find the borrowed book, he or she is not denied another read.

You could say it has been a bit of an evolution, with a lot of support from our local and state councils, the school district, and local businesses. Over time, we have partnered with organizations that service children, including the YMCA and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, to bring the Book Cycle library to children participating in those programs.

Going the extra mile

We measure the success of the Book Cycle by anecdotal stories and the relationships built. Our 20–30 volunteers, often teachers, offer recommendations to help match a child and a book. There are typically 300–400 books to choose from, but the volunteers also take requests. While children are browsing, volunteers talk with the children, parents, and grandparents.

One family has been borrowing books for all seven years of the Book Cycle’s existence. Initially apprehensive to borrow books out of fear that their younger children might destroy them, we assured the parents and grandparents that the Book Cycle did not have fines. We don’t know what these children’s reading achievements would be without the Book Cycle, but we know that this family, arriving in the United States in 2006, has elementary-age children who are meeting and exceeding grade-level benchmarks.

Another family on the route, at times hesitant to be part of the school community, comes out together to pick out books. When one child in the family wasn’t home, the others began selecting books for their missing family member. Conversations during the selection process showed what the family knew about one another as readers.

Our volunteers go the extra mile—literally—to establish a relationship with students and families. When a grandmother reminisced about the countless times she read Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino to her own daughter and expressed frustration in not finding the book at local garage sales, a volunteer purchased the book so the grandmother could enjoy it with her grandchildren.

Building a reading relationship

We realize the Book Cycle is not about the tunes or the shiny trikes. It is about building relationships with children and extending access to high-interest texts. Our anecdotal stories and connections with children and families reflect the success and are the only fuel we need to keep the Book Cycle going.

As volunteers, we can’t help but smile as we pedal through town. As cofounders, we hope the moment of hearing the trike coming spills over and transfers to the excitement of turning the pages of a captivating book.

Amber Garbe, an ILA member since 2009 and a past president of the Central Wisconsin Reading Council, is currently the literacy coordinator for Mosinee Schools in Wisconsin. Paula Bartel, an ILA member since 1988 and also a past president of the Central Wisconsin Reading Council, is currently a reading specialist in the Stevens Point Area School District in Wisconsin.

 
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