Read to the Rhythm this summer at the Scott Library Published June 24, 2015 By Senior Airman Sarah Hall-Kirchner 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Illinois -- The Scott AFB Library kicked off its "Read to the Rhythm" Summer Reading Program June 15. Over the next two months, the library will host a variety of events for all ages that encourage children, teens and adults to read recreationally. "With this program, we hope to keep people excited about reading," said Tamela Smith, 375th Force Support Squadron supervisory librarian. "Participants can read anything--books, magazines, audio-books, read-along to a tape --it can be any type of reading, as long as people are engaged in reading." Children, teens, and adults filled the library to sign up for the summer reading program and to log the hours of reading already completed. After logging reading hours, participants may receive incentive prizes for their accomplishments. Reading rewards for students include coupons for free food on base and in the surrounding area, small toys, passes for bowling on base, a water bottle or an ear bud splitter. Adult participants will be entered in drawings for prizes such as free meals on and off base, a game of golf, or a free night in a hotel. During the event, participants read, played rattlesnake round-up, got their faces painted or a temporary tattoo, had a balloon animal made, and danced to music provided by a live disc jockey. The USO provided free food and drinks for the event. According to the National Summer Learning Association, studies indicate that students who read recreationally outperform students who do not. Students read more when they can choose materials based on their own interests. The Scott AFB Library is committed to supporting the lifelong learning and educational enrichment for all families. During the 2014 Summer Reading Program, 311,184 books were read and participants spent 18,687,976 minutes reading. That amount of time is the equivalent of 35 years of reading. Summer reading is important for many reasons, according to the American Library Association. Research warns of the "summer slide," which shows that children lose up to two months of learning over the summer break from school. Between school years, summer reading programs build a bridge and aid in preventing that loss of knowledge. Research on summer reading programs spanning 100 years, demonstrates that children who read a minimum of six books over the summer score higher in reading and math when they return to school the following year. Over the summer, in addition to the summer reading program, the library is encouraging reading with other events such as story times all summer long, movies and movie sing-alongs, teen nights, adult book club nights, and an ice cream social featuring the Band of Mid-America. For more information on events at the library, call 256-5100 or 256-3028. Their webpage is www.375fss.com/scott_library.htm and their Facebook page is www.facebook.com/scottafblibrary?fref=ts. To log Summer Reading Program hours or to sign up for the program visit http://usaf.evanced.info/scott/sr/homepage.asp.