Parents' Summer Reading Letter

To read or not to read?  That is a silly question.

Dear Parents,

Greetings from the library! In the posts titled Suggested Summer Reading, you will find a list of books selected for students' reading pleasure. Yes, pleasure. This is not a required reading list; this list is for personal enjoyment. These books have been selected because they are well-told tales, enjoyable and navigable without a teacher’s guidance. Hopefully, there is something for everyone—sports, adventure, mystery, fantasy, history, and biography. All the books are entertaining; some are heart-wrenching. 

I suggest summer reading because reading produces many personal and academic benefits. Research shows that students who read for fun:

·         Build a broad knowledge base (which in turn further improves reading comprehension)

·         Become better and faster readers

·         Develop fluency with words

·         Improve writing skills

·         Earn higher scores on standardized reading and writing tests

·         Have Fun!

When the school year begins, I hope your student will make good use of the Bishop Maclibrary. The library owns approximately 10,000 books and subscribes to 19 magazines. Books and articles may be requested from libraries throughout the state, free of charge, via interlibrary loan. Bishop Mac subscribes to twenty proprietary databases, password-protected collections of citations and full-text articles from magazines, newspapers, and academic journals. Our alumni report that their college professors heavily emphasize databases in the preparation of term papers and that they are grateful for the introduction they received in high school. 

I encourage students to participate in “Read for a Lifetime,” (RFL) a program sponsored by the Illinois State Library. Any participant who reads at least four titles from the designated list receives a certificate signed by the Illinois Secretary of State. RFL students also have the opportunity to earn service hours by participating in the Dr.Seuss Readathon sponsored by Target. 

For more book suggestions and to learn more about the Mac library, please visit the library blog at http://bishopmclibrary.blogspot.com/.  The blog features monthly new-book postings, Thursday book trailers, interesting and fun articles, school news, and student book reviews and recommendations. 

I look forward to seeing to you and your student(s) in the Fall. Happy reading!

Sincerely,

Terri E. Jones, M.S.
Librarian