MidCoast Council promotes summer reading Myall Coast Myall Coast - popup ad Myall Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - December 13, 2023 Achievement trends for Australian schoolkids over the last 22 years, clearly showing a steady overall decline in all three key areas of reading, maths and science. Graphic: PISA. MIDCOAST Council Libraries Summer Reading Club, is offering the chance for prizes to the most prodigious readers aged seventeen and under. The Reading Club annually encourages kids to read throughout the summer holidays, with a 2023-24 seasonal theme of a ‘Roomful of Stories’. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au “Reading for pleasure has so many benefits for children including improved concentration, literacy skills, imagination, and creativity and will give them a hobby they can enjoy for the rest of their lives,” said Alex Mills, MidCoast Council’s Manager Libraries, Community and Cultural Services. “You can borrow a huge range of books from MidCoast Council Libraries, with access to books, e-books, audiobooks, e-mags, and even movies, TV and music through the libraries’ three apps, Libby, Borrow Box and Hoopla.” “These great free resources are a fantastic way to keep your kids entertained this summer and will give them the opportunity to fall in love with reading.” Literacy among Australia’s kids needs desperate motivation, especially in light of the recent 2022 OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA, conducted every three years across 81 countries, 690,000 students worldwide, 13,437 in Australia, assesses fifteen-year-old students’ “ability to apply their Reading, Mathematics and Science knowledge and skills to solve real-life problems and participate fully in society”. Official PISA information shows Australian kids ranked barely above the OECD average in all three knowledge areas, and an apparent improvement overall was actually the result of other nations dropping due to COVID impacts, rather than Australian kids actually performing better. Kids across Australia, let alone MidCoast LGA, can never read enough, and books always make great Christmas presents. Summer Reading Club participants can register online at https://library.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Events/Summer-Reading-Club, then visit their local MidCoast Council Library to receive a reading calendar, the challenges, and challenges card to start their reading journey and fill up a reading log over the summer. Registrations close Saturday 20 January 2024, all materials must be completed and returned by 27 January, whereby participants can be invited to the Summer Reading Club party and enter the draw for prizes. Forster Library will host the Summer Reading Club party on Saturday 3 February 2024 in the Civic Centre. By Thomas O’KEEFE
