Help us raise money for a summer book bike!

Background:
The students of the Antietam School District lack appropriate access to summer reading materials. The Exeter and Reading Public Libraries are not in walking distance for our students, and the Mount Penn Primary and Elementary buildings are not open in the summer months due to cleaning, maintenance, and construction projects. In an effort to provide high quality summer programming, access to library materials, and connections with librarians, our hope is to combat the summer slide by providing easy and frequent access to books.

Objective:
As our community is small, we want to take books to where our students are in the summer months,make reading accessible for all kids, and promote summer reading to prevent the summer slide. Research shows us that kids who read in the summer are less likely to lose academic ground in the area of literacy. By coupling access to books with fun literacy and STEM activities, our goal is to reach at least 50% of our K-12 population on at least three occasions during the summer (two books per month)with a goal of putting 6 books in students' hands in the summer months. 

Program/Project Description:

The Mountaineer Mobile Library (MML) project will put summer reading in the hands of students across our small district. The elementary librarian, with a book bike, will make twice weekly stops during the entire summer vacation around varied locations within the school district for students to accomplish two things. First, they will be able to borrow, exchange, or receive free books for summer reading. Secondly, they will engage in high quality activities like read-alouds and/or literacy-based STEM activity during their visit to the MML. Stocked up with books from the elementary or primary library, the book bike will allow us to offer reading materials to students on an ongoing basis through the summer. Due to cleaning and maintenance schedules our library has not been open in the summer months, and the closest public library is out of walking distance for our students and families.  With the Mountaineer Mobile Library, all of our students will have access to high quality summer reading experiences. We will be able to build a program this summer that we will be able to sustain independently for years to come.

Back Up Plan