The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear join to support the Kentucky Public Libraries’ Summer Reading Programs for 2012. This year’s themes are “Dream Big” (early literacy and children) and “Own the Night” (teens).

Watch a brief video from Jane Beshear promoting summer reading here. 

Teachers and parents are encouraged to help children use “Find a Book, Kentucky” (http://www.lexile.com/fab/ky) to build personal reading lists for summer reading and then locate their selections at their school library or local public library. “Find a Book, Kentucky” uses the widely-adopted Lexile® measure to match a reader with books that will provide the right level of challenge to support reading growth. School librarians and public librarians are ready to assist children and their parents as they make summer reading selections.

New this year, KDE encourages students to “Pledge to Read” during the summer on the “Find a Book, Kentucky” site. Look for the “Submit your summer reading pledge” icon to indicate participation.

Find more information on KDE’s “Summer Reading” Web page: http://tinyurl.com/KYSummerReading. Each school’s certified school librarian has additional resources to promote Summer Reading Programs.

KET’s One to One with Bill Goodman will feature the Summer Reading Program on an upcoming episode. Air dates are June 3 at 1 p.m. ET on KET and June 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET on KET2.

For more information about specific activities, contests and reading events for the Summer Reading Program in your county, contact your local public library (http://kdla.ky.gov/librarians/Pages/LibraryDirectory.aspx).