WHEREAS, Visiting local libraries provides children with
access to unlimited amounts of reading materials; and
WHEREAS, Studies done by researchers at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, Maryland, show that disadvantaged youth
fall significantly behind other students because of a lack of
access to reading materials and a loss of encouragement in the
home and elsewhere to participate in any reading. Such a drop-
off of reading outside of the school year results in achievement
gaps not only in school, but also later in life. Communities
that offer summer reading encourage youth to develop reading as
a lifelong habit, draw in reluctant readers through activities,
help ensure children, particularly those in disadvantaged homes,
to read during the summer months to maintain and increase
reading skills and generate interest in free public libraries
and the services they offer; and
WHEREAS, Schools and public librarians throughout this
Commonwealth and the nation have cooperatively produced summer
reading lists to enhance both learning and recreation. Library
officials in Pennsylvania have worked with their counterparts
from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa and
the Mariana Islands through the Collaborative Summer Library
Program (CSLP) to provide high-quality summer reading program
materials for children at the lowest cost possible for their
public libraries. The CSLP annually establishes themes for
summer reading. This year's themes are "On Your Mark, Get Set,
Read!" for children, "Get in the Game, Read!" for teens and
"Escape Your Mind, Read!" for adults; and
WHEREAS, Support of summer reading programs give all library
users an opportunity to become lifelong readers and learners by
visiting the library frequently. In fact, the Johns Hopkins
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