Family reading time is a big deal for Sophia and Ava Leftwich. Even if they can’t read the whole book quite yet.
“The girls get excited about it,” Jill Leftwich said of her daughters, aged 4 and 2. “They fight over whose book is going to go first.”
That’s what the Emporia Public Library likes to hear. And it’s what Family Reading Month is meant to encourage.
Family Reading Month began Sunday and runs through Feb. 25. The basic idea will sound familiar to any child who’s been through the summer reading program: keep track of how much time you spend reading and there might be a prize in it for you.
The twist is that this time you’re tracking the entire family, not just one person. If Mom reads the morning paper, it counts. If Dad checks out something in Sports Illustrated, it counts. Picture books, comic books, read aloud, read silently — as long as it’s read by someone in the family, it counts for the total.
Last year, 142 families took part, reading for 76,380 minutes, the second-highest total since the library started keeping track That’s the equivalent of one person reading for 53 days straight, without stopping to eat, sleep or do anything else.
“It’s kind of a cool program,” said Lori Heller, the library’s coordinator of children’s services. “It gives parents a chance to model reading behavior for their kids.”
It worked for Leftwich as a child, although in her case, she was modeling her brother rather than her parents.
“My older brother was a big reader and I saw that he enjoyed it,” she said. “So I started reading a lot in elementary school from about fourth or fifth grade, and I just couldn’t stop.”
As of Thursday, 64 families had signed up. But there’s still time.Those that register get a goodie bag with stuff like bookmarks, pencils and even bowling coupons. They also get a time booklet to fill out and plenty of overtime sheets if it gets filled up too fast.
As always, Tuesday nights will be family nights at the library — always a good chance to log some minutes. The theme for Feb. 6 will be “Gingerbread Adventures” while Feb. 13’s will be “Won’t You Be My Valentine?”
No family night is scheduled on Feb. 20 because of the city’s 150th birthday party at W.L. White Auditorium. The grand prize drawing will be at 3 p.m. Feb. 25.
Other children’s activities at the library during those weeks include:
F “Make-it, Take-it Craft Week” from Monday through Thursday next week.
F A film, “Over The Hedge” on Friday. The movie is rated PG.
Meanwhile, it’s safe to say that Leftwich has her older daughter hooked on this reading stuff.
“She wants to write books and write poems,” Leftwich said. “It’s fun to get her ‘First Books’ at the library. She reads the two, three and four-letter words and sounds them out.”