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Storytime in Baker

Kathleen Lippa
Northern News Services

Baker Lake (July 14/04) - Josee Stasila-Boyer, 9, loves to read, and has for as long as she can remember.

"I like Harry Potter books a lot," said the youth last week, speaking on the phone from the Thomas Tapatai Library in Baker Lake.

Now that summer has arrived, Stasila-Boyer enjoys playing outside with her friends in the constant brightness of the long days.

But she has also been able to keep up her reading with the help of the TD Summer Reading Club.

"It's a fantastic reading incentive," said librarian Susan MacIsaac talking about the program. There are currently eight young people enroled in the program in Baker Lake.

"The value of it is that it keeps kids reading over the summer. They don't have to go for a long period of time without reading books. It's a great way to encourage literacy."

This year, the program's theme is Fire Up the Imagination: Dragons, Books and Quests. Children receive a poster and interactive activity booklet when they join the club. The more books they read about these medieval and magical themes, the more stickers they get.

Because Stasila-Boyer is a keen reader, she gets stickers every three books she reads. Other participants may choose to collect stickers for every one book they complete.

Internet exploration

Children can also use the Internet to fulfil many activities laid out for them in the booklet.

Library assistant Tania Marsh said she has seen the kids in Baker take to the program with gusto. "It's not just reading," said Marsh. "It's got them exploring on the Internet as well. It introduces them to a lot of things."

The TD Summer Reading Club was started by the Toronto Public Library in 1994.

The program is now widely offered around Canada.

Other Nunavut libraries where children can join this reading club are the Iqaluit Centennial Library, the Rebecca P. Idlout Library in Pond Inlet, the May Hakongak Community Library in Cambridge Bay, the Amitturmiut Library in Iglulik and the Clyde River Community Library.

The program was officially launched June 10 and runs until the end of August.