The glorious cycle begins again – it’s back to school time! South Florida’s climate makes it seem like an endless summer. And in a way it is, because it’s almost always blindingly sunny and a perfect beach day. Where I am from in Georgia, we have seasons — summertime is peach season and when fall arrives, the leaves turn from green to red and gold. But the calendar does not lie...so get those backpacks out!

Meanwhile, we’ve been keeping kids submerged in Oceans of Fun events over the summer, reading and learning so that they would not lose ground academically during the break. 

A big part of the Broward County Library (BCL) Summer Learning Program is reading challenges to prevent the dreaded “summer slide,” when school is out and scholastic progress can take a nosedive. Not here! Right now, we have 9,289 kids under eighteen enrolled and logging their reads to become eligible for fabulous prizes. When school starts on August 16, they’ll be primed and ready to get back to the classroom.

A super reading tip I’ll share is to involve the family pet. Recent studies at the University of British Columbia scientifically measured how kids are more confident and engaged, spend more time reading, and make a greater effort when they are in the presence of a dog. Sweet, silent, and supportive, animals make terrific book buddies! We have observed that with BCL’s Wags & Tales program. Kids ages 5 to 12 can boost their self-assurance, skills, and scores by reading to a Broward County Humane Society therapy dog. To find events, visit our Online Library Events Calendar, enter "wags" in the search box and select your desired date range.

Click here to View the Information About Broward County Library Director's Message from Allison Grubbs - July 28, 2022