With kids heading back to school soon, an effort to prevent the summer-learning slide is wrapping up.Three-year-old Cheyenne Lombard and her aunt Wendy Brophy were enjoying a sunny day at the Cheshire Elementary School playground when the Book Mobile showed up. Despite the swings and slides, Cheyenne seemed to handle the change of plans pretty well. She dove right into her ABCs, urging her aunt to sing along.
“We were at the playground and she noticed the books on the ground and had to come running over,” Brophy said. “She was so thrilled.”
For Amy Hall of the Family Resource Center of Northern Berkshire County, that was exactly the goal when the agency launched the book mobile program this summer.
“We know during the summer a lot of kids their learning goes back a little bit,” Hall said. “The summer learning slide is what they call it. Some kids lose up to two months of learning. So we really wanted to get as many books in the hands of children as possible.”
Since classes let out in June, the program has handed out more than 100 books, setting up shop at schools and libraries in 11 towns for half-hour stints. The traveling bookstore has even found some loyal customers like Karen Scholz and her 8-year-old daughter Olivia.
“Which one should we bring home?” Karen asked.
“I read that one, that one and that one,” answered Olivia.
“Yeah you’ve read all these Amelia Bedelia books I’m sure,” answered Karen.
And, it seems Olivia’s 2-year old brother Christopher may be following in his sister’s footsteps in no time at all.
Other than just giving away the books, which children get to keep thanks to a donation from Greylock Federal Credit Union, the Book Mobile provides families a chance to enjoy some time together. Gregory Dietrich and his 2-year-old daughter Abigail took advantage.
“Then he and Christopher Robin set out on their expedition,” Gregory read from a Winnie-the-Pooh book.
Abigail shouted “Honey!” when she saw unveiled a honey pot behind a flap in the book’s pages.
“Nice selection definitely,” Dietrich said. “It’s great for her. We love to read. It’s always nice to have a new book. It’s beautiful outside. Yeah, it was a nice trip.”
For Hall, the Book Mobile also provides a sense of nostalgia.
“When I was a kid the book mobile came every single week to my neighborhood,” Hall said. “It was a library on wheels. It was a big camper. I remember looking forward to every week the book mobile would come I would take a different book out and then the next week it would come and I would return that book and get another. They would have the story hour right there. Right in our neighborhood right in the book mobile.”
Hall says the Book Mobile allows the Family Resource Center to reach more families in hopes that they will take advantage of the other services the center offers like its Parent-Child Home Program.
“It’s a program that teaches parents how to interact with a book or toy with their children in order to get them ready for school,” Hall explained. “It’s a program that’s home-visiting. It’s three times a week and we bring free books and toys into the home. So we’re trying to enroll parents and children now for the fall. It’s a two-year program that’s been around for over 40 years now and it’s been shown to increase high school graduation rates.”
Hall says they plan to continue the Book Mobile next summer as they think of ways to reach more kids. While the Book Mobile may be rolling away for the summer, Dietrich and his daughter Abigail are going off on their own journey.
“Pooh nodded and held his honey pot close,” Dietrich read. “Christopher Robin invited Eeyore to join their expedition and off they went.”
