Three-year-old Juliana Campasano is always immersed in books, and she has a goal in life. She is plowing ahead to learn to read and write so she can write a book for Elizabethville Area Library librarian “Miss Jenn” to read at Storytime. Juliana is off to a great start, her mother believes, because she is a reader. Her attention span is strong, and she is “reading” memorized passages out loud. The family recently relocated from Brooklyn to Millersburg, and The Library’s Summer Reading Challenge and reading programs are helping Juliana socialize and “love books even more,” said Juliana’s mom, Benedicta Campasano. 

• This year’s Summer Reading Challenge is more exciting than ever! Running through Aug. 31, the challenge rewards participating children and adults with prizes and raffle entries as they log their reading, write reviews, and complete activities. Sign up or sign into your Beanstack account at www.dcls.org/src. 

• To ramp up the excitement, The Library is holding raffles for great prizes all summer long. Kids can win toys or even bicycles. Teens might win wireless headphones or Foot Locker gift cards. Some lucky adults could win gift cards for gas and groceries, themed gift baskets, or even a bounce house rental. 

“It helps with her language development,” she said. “It helps her imagination, reading all these books and being a part of this little community. It helps with her imagination. You can see her thinking when you talk to her about something. You can see that she’s imagining what that looks like, and I feel like that comes from all the visuals she’s gotten from books.”  

The theme of The Library’s Summer Reading Challenge 2023 “Find Your Voice” — underscores the benefits of reading. The Summer Reading Challenge spotlights reading fun, letting kids find their voice by choosing the books they want to read. It’s also The Library’s contribution toward halting the “summer slide,” when children regress academically between school years. 

“We love reading and having fun year-round, but summer has a special place in our hearts,” said Dauphin County Library System Executive Director Karen Cullings. “It’s our time to show kids that reading opens new worlds and gives them the tools they need to express themselves and make their talents flourish. They keep their minds engaged, so when they go back to school, they hit the ground running and have an awesome school year.” 

Four-year-old Sophia Borocz recently borrowed “Maleficent” from The Library, nurturing her love for Disney characters, and enjoys the beloved “Pete the Cat” series.  

Sophia’s mom, Tiffany Borocz, likes the structure of the Summer Reading Challenge and that Sophia’s reading also counts toward “1000 Books Before Kindergarten.” She also loves the activities that encourage kids to develop life skills.  

“It might be ‘practice spelling your name,’” said Borocz of Lower Paxton Township. “Once this summer, it was ‘practice dialing your parents’ phone number,’ and I thought, ‘That’s a really good life skill that I should probably start teaching her.’”  

Juliana Campasano completes the Summer Reading Challenge quickly. Attending Storytime at Elizabethville Area Library counts, as does reading at home. 

“Sometimes, her siblings read to her,” said her mother. “I don’t always catch everything they read. She and her 10-year-old sister sometimes read four, five, or six books in one sitting.” 

Plus, kids and teens who reach the halfway points of their challenges earn The Library’s famous Explore Your Community bag, full of tickets and coupons for free stuff and activities. For the Campasano family, it was a great introduction to the attractions around their new home, such as the Ned Smith Center. Juliana loves animals, and compared to the Bronx Zoo, Lake Tobias Wildlife Park in Halifax was a revelation. 

“I feel like this zoo is more in touch with nature,” said Campasano. “The exhibit with giraffes was shocking to us. In New York, giraffes are pretty far away. Here you can touch them, and you can feed them.”  

The Summer Reading Challenge at The Library intentionally taps into activities, entertainment, and programs that encourage socialization – a critical aspect of child development in the post-COVID era. 

Sophia Borocz is such a regular at her local libraries, including Kline Library and East Shore Area Library, that the librarians greet her by name. 

“She absolutely loves them,” said Borocz. “As she gets older and more comfortable, she can walk up to the counter and say, ‘Can I check out my book, please?’ or ‘Can I have a sticker?’ Getting her to interact with other adults that aren’t her parents or grandparents is another positive.” 

Sophia even helps introduce her 5-month-old brother, Timothy, to reading by checking out board books for him. He enjoys them – in the way that all babies get to know their first books. 

“He’s trying to chew on them, but he does like them,” said his mom.