Celebrating National Family Literacy Day

BY: RACHEL WUMKES

There’s something special about picking up a physical book.  Feeling the crisp pages against your thumb as you flip through.  The gloss of the cover as you read the blurb written on the back.  Or even the way the pages smell.

It’s exhilarating.

And then, before you know it, you’re captivated by the pages in front of you.  Emersed into the story, or even a new world, and you can’t put it down.

Reading is an essential skill in life and serves as a basic building block for learning.  Whatever the school subject may be, reading is likely involved.  In daily life, the need to read things such as street signs or prescriptions proves it to be an important life skill.

On November 1st, families across the country come together to celebrate National Family Literacy Day.  While we all know the benefits of reading aloud to our children, there is research showing families have much to gain from reading together.  Besides helping the young ones develop good vocabulary skills, it can be valuable bonding time.

People read books for a variety of reasons.

Some use it as downtime in their day to reset and recharge.  Basking in the peace and quiet, they dive into another world and live there for a bit to escape the realities of life.

Others read to learn.  Gaining knowledge and discovering new things excited them to no end.

Personally, I enjoy the entertainment aspect of a good book.  **insert shameless plug here**

Have you read anything by our Chamber Member, Author Rachel Smith?  She has published four romance novels and five children’s books.  All are highly entertaining and a great escape into the story!

We are fortunate in Clear Lake to have a fantastic library at our fingertips!  Not only are they fully stocked with books of every genre, but they are part of a statewide program called Bridges.

Bridges is the eBook, audiobook, and streaming video buying consortium for Iowa public libraries. The State Library of Iowa facilitates the program and manages the contract on behalf of the participating libraries.

There are over 100,000 titles available through the Clear Lake Public Library to check out e-books, magazines and audiobooks.  The list of genres appears endless as they offer titles in mystery, humor, classic literature, young adult, and kids.

So, how does one utilize this fabulous feature?  Well, for starters you’ll need a library card.  It’s easy peasy to get if you just stop into the desk at the library.  Then, you can get the Libby App at meet.libbyapp.com and download via the App Store or through Google Play.

Then you just need to decide what book to read.

And for all those aspiring authors out there, November is the official month of NaNoWriMo.  National Novel Writing Month is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes creative writing around the world. Its flagship program is a creative writing event in which participants attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript during the month of November.

Interested?  Perfect.  Anyone can participate.  The Clear Lake Library even has a program designed for teens!  They’ll meet each Wednesday during the month of November from 2:30-3:30pm to have a power hour of writing!

Just think, by the end of November, you could have a whole novel finished and ready to publish!

NaNoWriMo is just one of the many events hosted by our local library in November.  If you’re looking for a way to connect with community and grow your love for reading, you simply must stop in and get yourself acquainted with all they have to offer.

Young or old, the Clear Lake Library provides SO MANY awesome activities to keep you engaged and help children develop a love for reading.  Check it out!

Graphic used from Clear Lake Public Library Facebook Page