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LARCHMONT, N.Y. Children participating in the summer reading program at the Larchmont Library can start cracking open their books Friday.
The theme for this year's summer reading game is One World, Many Stories. Children's librarian Rebecca Eller and her staff have prepared booklists broken down by continent and reading level, which are available online. Children who participate in the game will get a passport to fill up as they read.
"As they read from each continent, they bring in their reading passport and we stamp their passport with a stamper from each continent," said Eller, who wouldn't reveal what the stamps were. "It's a surprise."
After a child reads a book, he or she can write an anonymous review of it on the library website. The books read for the passport program also count toward the children's reading logs, which are kept online.
"We figured it would be easier for parents to have the option of doing it at home, because it's hard to do it at the library when you have one child running one way and the other child running the other way," said Eller, a New Rochelle resident said.
This is the second year children will log reading hours online and Eller is interested in the feedback on the program going paperless. "This year will be the real test," said Eller.
The program classifies children as "Readers" or "Read-To-Me's." Readers get prizes for every five hours spent reading, and Read-To-Me's get prizes for every three hours spent being read to.
This year, Eller will also introduce the party cart, which holds books that will be given to the winner of a weekly drawing. Some have not come out yet and some have been signed by the author.
"It's a new world out there with electronics and the library," Eller said. "And it teaches children basic web skills, which is another good thing."
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