About 1,200 youngsters take part in the library’s summer activities.
By: Eileen Oldfield
The library’s summer program, Get a Clue at Your Library, already has Hillsborough’s amateur sleuths investigating the scene of the crime, and reporting that the program is a hit.
"The reading program is really fun," said Carina Banfitch, 8, of Grafton Court. "You get to answer questions and do science projects and reading projects. And you can win prizes."
The program, which started June 11 and runs through Aug. 25, follows the state library’s program outline. In Hillsborough, the program is for children from preschool to fifth grade. According to the head of Youth Services, Laura Mellor, there are approximately 1,000 kids in the program and approximately 200 teenagers in a program for grades six and up.
"We’ve been coming here every year for the program," said Carina’s mother, Christina Banfitch. "I think it’s great to keep the kids reading and learning. This is absolutely wonderful."
The kids program rewards children for the amount of minutes they spend reading. At the start of the program, they received a "time tracker" to help them record the amount of time they read. When they visit the library again, the kids record the information in their reading logs, and give the logs to a librarian.
After reaching certain goals, such as reading for 100 minutes, the kids get a prize from the librarians. Some kids, like Carina, already have their eyes on their prize.
Others, like Jack Kinst, 8, of New Center Road, aren’t quite sure what they’d like.
"I’d like books as a prize," said Jack. "I love reading chapter books and comic books."
Jack is excited about the whole program, particularly the Star Wars-themed and Harry Potter-themed extra programs. He admits that it’s hard to keep track of how much he reads sometimes, simply because he enjoys reading.
"I read too much," said Jack. "It’s hard to keep track because I read all the time."
Teenagers in the teen program won’t be logging the minutes they spend reading, but will need to keep track of the books they read instead. After showing their book log to the librarians, teens in the program receive prize tickets after completing books. After filling out the tickets, teens drop them in the prize bucket of their choice; a prize drawing is held at the end of the summer.
In addition to reading awards, the kids will have the chance to participate in a variety of games. The library is hosting a reading raffle that rewards the kids for updating their reading logs; after updating the logs, the kids receive a raffle ticket from the librarians, and can enter a raffle for several prizes.
The library is also offering a regular trivia game, and a Who Done It trivia game. Additional games include a Figure It Out game that involves identifying close-up photographs of objects around the library, a Find Buddy game that involves finding Buddy the Bookworm’s hiding place in the children’s room, and an Investigate Your World take-home activity.
The library planned several special programs throughout the summer as well. A list of the programs can be found on the Hillsborough Library’s Web site, www.somerset.lib.nj.us/hillsborough.htm, or by visiting the reference desk.
The library has the district’s required and suggested reading lists for grades 5-12 on file; however Ms. Mellor says many of the titles are currently checked out. There are other reading lists available too, including a mystery reading list.
Learning Express of Hillsborough donated the grand prizes for the program. All prizes must be picked up before Sept. 10.
To sign up for the program, visit the Children’s Reference Desk at the library.

