In just a week, the first leg of Mayor Jacobs’ Read City million-hour challenge comes to a close. Under the theme of All Together Now: Find Your Voice, we put the challenge to music. Programming at the library ranges from making a joyful noise to a making a musical instrument. Add in a Cake Walk, and it’s a bonafide party.
The completion prizes fit the bill as well – little ones can earn an inflatable microphone, older kids earn a musical instrument building block kit (try building a tiny piano with tiny bricks!) and adults can earn a Read City Note Pad (get it? Musical notes, Sticky notes?).
Thousands of readers are participating either through groups or as individuals. The goal for this leg is to read 36 hours by April 8. That works out to be a little over 20 minutes a day – the amount of time recommended for young readers to create a good habit. But if you haven’t started logging yet, it’s not too late! You can join the challenge and log retroactively. Everything counts – blogs, podcasts, audiobooks and, of course, good old-fashioned print books. You’re reading KnoxTNToday.com right now. That definitely counts!
But why? Literacy is in the news a lot these days. The oft-quoted third grade reading rate has been cause for alarm for a while. You’ve probably heard that the percentage of kids who read proficiently in the third grade is a scant 40%, give or take. It’s not just a Knox County or Tennessee problem. This is the case across the country. The reasons behind this lag are complex. The podcast, Sold A Story, outlines one theory. Screens and smart phones factor into the equation. There is plenty of blame to go around. In the meantime, we have to fix this problem.
Silas says, “Me, too!”
The good news is that school and community leaders are taking an all-hands-on deck approach. At one community forum filled with education experts hailing from Nashville and beyond said that Knox County was doing an admirable job of banding together and facing the challenge in focused and innovative ways. It’s not just a school problem. It’s a community problem. So many literacy skills are developed from birth to kindergarten before formal education begins. Critical vocabulary is being developed every single day. There are plenty of resources available to help parents with the developmental milestones to target.
And Isabelle agrees.
Kudos to Knox County leaders for examining and exploring ways to improve the third grade reading rate. If we’re successful, thousands of children will grow up to be able to function well in this world. The Read City Million Hour Challenge reflects back to our society how much we care and value literacy.
So go ahead, log your reading hours. The prize you’ll earn is just the tip of the iceberg.
Mary Pom Claiborne is assistant director for marketing, communications and development for Knox County Public Library.