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Record numbers of children have taken part in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge at the Guille-Allès Library.
Almost 2,000 children signed up for the free challenge to read six books over the holidays, collecting stickers and rewards along the way. The total of 1,955 participants is by some distance the highest in the event’s history, nearly 15% above the previous record from 2022.
The Challenge runs until Saturday 16 September, with finishers encouraged to return to the Library to collect their medal and a voucher for a free swim at Beau Sejour.
Jodie Hearn, Head of Children and Young People’s Services, said: “It’s been amazing to see so many children and their families getting involved in the Challenge and enjoying reading this summer. We know how important it is for children to keep up reading skills and literacy levels during the six-week break – and of course it’s great fun, too.”
The theme for the Challenge was ‘Ready, Set, Read’, with children invited to join a superstar team of cartoon characters and their animal mascots as they weaved their way through a summer obstacle course. To celebrate this theme, in July Guernsey footballer and keen reader Ross Allen visited the Library to sign children up to the Challenge and talk to them about what they’d been reading.
Jodie Hearn said: “This year’s sporting theme tied in brilliantly with the Island Games, and we were so grateful to Ross for helping us launch the Challenge – I know that lots of children loved meeting him. There’s still plenty of time before the finish date next Saturday – if children have completed the Challenge I would really encourage them to pop into the Library so they don’t miss out on their well-deserved medal.”
As part of the Summer Reading Challenge the Library teamed up with the charity Bright Beginnings, repeating a successful collaboration from previous summers. Reading volunteers from the Bright Beginnings – The Next Chapter programme attended the Library, as well as various outreach settings including the Kindred Centre, to provide a friendly face to meet and greet children, talk to them about the stories they’d read over the holidays, and listen to them read.
More information about the Summer Reading Challenge can be found at www.library.gg/ready or by calling the Children’s Library on 743635
