St. Tammany Parish Library (STPL) launches the 2023 Summer Reading Challenge (SRC) — All Together Now — for all ages starting Thursday, May 18! Additionally, SRC 2023 registration opens Thursday, May 18 at all of the 12 STPL’s branches, or online at sttammanylibrary.org/SummerReading.
To celebrate the start of Summer Reading, STPL will be hosting not one, but two Community Showcase Kick-Off Parties. One event will be on the east side of the parish at the Slidell branch (555 Robert Blvd.) on May 18 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The second event will be on May 19 at the Madisonville branch (1123 Main St.) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public. Plan for an evening of fun at the Community Partner Showcase Parties, which will include more than a dozen agencies from across the parish providing resources and information about the services they offer to St. Tammany residents in addition to offering interactive activities for the whole family!
Be sure to tour the Mobile Mechatronics Lab from our partner, Northshore Technical Community College and Touch a Fire Truck with St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection. Pick up your prize when you register for the Summer Reading Challenge, participate in scavenger hunts, and trivia, and join us in the "Club Library" Meeting Room for Live Music by the PopRocks, followed by a (Ssssshhhhhhh!) Silent Disco. Also, DJs from 94.7 the Lake and 104.7 the Highway will be broadcasting live!
“Our Summer Reading Challenge is the largest and most important program we offer each year for our current and future patrons,” said Kelly LaRocca, Director, St. Tammany Parish Library. “The program not only prevents the Summer Slide in reading skills, but it also promotes the exploration of new worlds and experiences through the gift of reading.”
St. Tammany Parish public libraries provide the community with an enriching opportunity during the summer months. Through the Summer Reading Challenge (SRC), all residents are encouraged to engage in creative and literary activities. The SRC aims to address the detrimental impact of the "Summer Slide," a phenomenon defined by Scholastic as “the loss of significant knowledge in reading” over the summer months, which creates a compounding effect as children continue to lose these skills with each passing year.
Want to enjoy more than books this Summer? Check out the large array of SRC programming for Children, Teens, Tweens and Adults happening at a library near you! Programming begins the week of May 30 and wraps up on July 29. All events can be found at www.sttammanylibrary.org.
Enjoy the 2023 Summer Reading Challenge kickoff video here.
###
The St. Tammany Parish Library has been serving the citizens of St. Tammany Parish for nearly seventy years. Our twelve branches offer over 542,000 loanable items including books, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, and magazines. The library’s website offers 24/7 access to downloadable audio and e-books, music downloads, research tools, magazines, and newspapers. Our programs and services are designed to meet residents’ cultural, informational, educational, and recreational needs.
