A group of teachers are taking reading to the streets this summer, packing a library and frozen treats into a mobile library program. The SHOWmobile – or Shiloh Hills on Wheels is a silver van that rolls around to mobile home parks and apartment buildings.
Not only are books and Popsicles readily available, but teachers are there too, ready to read stories to children inside the van. The idea is to have teachers read to children who don’t get much support for reading at home during the summer.
“Every September we ask the kids, ‘Did you read during the summer?’ ” said Shiloh Hills’ kindergarten teacher David Browning. “And every year so many kids would say, ‘I don’t have any books at home.’ ”
Since many families in low income areas do not have the time or transportation to take children to the library, it was important to get the books to the children, rather than wait for the children to come into school.
This year, Shiloh Hills kept the school library open one morning a week through July, but also decided to bring reading to the children in the community. They held book drives, teachers cleaned out their classroom libraries and donated their own books, and some people even donated board books for younger children.
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