Happy summer!

Have you been following along with the #STABSummerReading fun on social media? If you haven’t heard, #STABSummerReading is a way for our reading community to stay connected and engaged during the summer months when we’re not together in the library. Research has found that students who do not read over their summer vacation can see a serious “summer reading loss” (also called the “summer slide”) which can impact their upcoming academic performance, test scores, and relationship with reading over all. In our library we talk about practicing a sport like swimming and basketball; if you run, practice, and participate every day or a few times a week, your muscles will stay strong and your skills will stay sharp. You won’t forget a thing! But what happens if you take three months off? When you come back, you’ll have a lot of catching up to do.

Ask your reader to share some of the ideas we brainstormed at the school year about where to get great new books to read during the summer months. (We talked about the public library, local bookstores, trading with friends, and scouting Little Free Libraries (like this one at the Virginia Discovery Museum), just to name a few!

Whatever you’re reading (and wherever you’re reading it), I hope you’ll share it with us!

We use #STABSummerReading to share our favorite reads and give recommendations, celebrate our summer travels and activities, and show our community that reading and learning are a major priority for us even in the summer months. This June, we’ve seen posts from all New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, and right here in Charlottesville (don’t be intimidated, my posts are all from my couch :)). Readers of all ages have shared stories with daughters and sons, dogs, cats, little brothers, neighbors, friends, nieces and nephews, and even tomato plants! Students, faculty, staff, parents, baby brothers and sisters, pets… we want to see it all. For more info on how to join the #STABSummerReading conversation, check out the #STABSummerReading launch post here.

Check out some of the highlights from June’s #STABSummerReading:

 

---

I can’t wait to hear about what you’ve been reading! Jump on in and follow along with #STABSummerReading on:

Instagram – Twitter – Facebook