Teachers and parents: are you looking for great resources for summer reading for your students? In this post we round up programs from Granite School District, our friends at the Salt Lake City Public Library and Salt Lake County Library systems, and a few more resources from the web in general.

Granite’s OverDrive

All K-12 students in Granite School District (as well as all staff members) have access to Granite’s OverDrive Digital Library, where they can choose from thousands of ebooks and digital audiobooks to read or listen to throughout the summer.

You can access Granite’s OverDrive from any web browser by visiting http://granite.lib.overdrive.com. You can also access our library via the OverDrive app, which is available for a whole range of mobile devices and operating systems (see http://app.overdrive.com.) Students log in with their regular school login (student number and whatever password they have at the point school ends.)

For more information and help with Granite’s OverDrive, please see this post or download these more detailed instructions.

Salt Lake County Library

The Salt Lake County Library System is sponsoring a summer reading challenge called “Every Hero Has a Story.” You can find out more about all of their challenges and events by visiting their Summer 2015 web page, watching the video below, or visiting one of their 18 locations.

On Saturday, June 6, from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M., the Salt Lake County Libraries are holding a Summer Library Kickoff Party at the Viridian Event Center and Veterans Memorial Park in West Jordan. There will be free live music, entertainers, activities, exhibitors, a giant inflatable playground, train ride and crafts for the kids. You can sign up for the Summer Reading program at the party.

Salt Lake City Public Library

The City Library is also putting on a Super Summer 2015 Reading Challenge with categories for kids, toddlers, teens and adults. Check out their web page for details, and visit the beautiful main library or one of their seven branches.

Why Summer Reading?

It is beyond the scope of this article to adequately address the reasons for promoting summer reading or the research that supports its importance. However, a few fun “whys” are shared here. Kate DiCamillo, multiple-Newbery Medal-winning kidlit superstar author and the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, has some great reasons for summer reading:

Kate DiCamillo also has this fun interview in Time for Kids with a great summer reading list that includes a nice mix of new releases and absolute classics.

Even More Summer Reading Resources

Looking for something else? Here are a few more options, ideas, and inspirations:

• Several school libraries in Granite School District open their doors periodically during the summer for book checkout and other programming.  Contact your school to find out if they offer this service.
• You can download and listen to the free YA audiobooks provided weekly by Audiobooksync.com all summer long.
• Keep track of your own reading or have your students connect with each other about their reading over the summer using Goodreads.
•  Share some of the interactive books on Salt Lake County Library’s Tumblebooks collection with your kids.
• Check out this Nerdy Book Club guest blog post with 10 Ideas to Promote Summer Reading.
• Explore Scholastic Instructor’s 50 Best Books for Summer 2015 list for a lot of the latest buzz titles in children’s literature.
• See this list of 11 Free Reading Websites for Kids, or this list of Non-fiction Text Sources for kids.
• We will be continuing to post new book reviews recommended by Granite library staff, teachers and students throughout the summer at Granitemedia.org. Check the site to find more ideas for great books to read.