When I was growing up, summers in the city were spent taking trips to the pool, going to camp and spending hours sitting in the back of the car on road trips that never seemed to end. Filling the time in between, I read. A lot. Though the occasional trip to the bookstore allowed me to start my own collection of books, the bulk of my reading material came from the local library. Afternoons would be spent with my mom and brothers browsing the shelves, stocking up on books, and then getting a popsicle from the neighbouring corner store (if we were lucky).
Recently I’ve noticed ads popping up on the TTC for the Toronto Public Library’s TD Summer Reading Club. I can remember participating in an earlier version of the program when I was a kid (a construction paper cut-out with my name up on the bulletin board in the children’s section seems to ring a bell). Browsing the program’s site (http://tdsrc.torontopubliclibrary.ca/) makes me realize how the internet has changed the way that kids across the city access the library’s services. The theme this summer is “Lost Worlds” and kids can submit the titles of the books they’ve read, and post reviews for ones they’ve loved or hated. Just a few days into summer vacation and there’s already quite a bit of action on the site—and 483 books read-to-date. It’s one big virtual bulletin board for kids across the city to share their picks for the summer. A little different than the summer reading club I remember, but still lots of fun. And if it gets kids reading, what could be better than that?
Kate Edwards
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