Now this is something I can get behind. I can say unequivocally that falling in love with reading at a young age has been the greatest gift I’ve ever given myself. And hopefully a whole lot of kids in Los Angeles will feel the same one day.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Library personnel in Los Angeles, California have set up some new, groundbreaking rules that they hope will encourage kids to fall in love with reading. Instead of simply paying a fine, youngsters are now able to “read off” their overdue book fees. Kids can come to the library, sign in, and work off their late fees by reading for $5 an hour.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
An 11-year-old girl who has been taking advantage of the program said, “You tell them you’ll read and they’ll sign you in and you start. When your head starts losing the book you can stop reading and they tell you how much money they took away.”
Photo Credit: Flickr, Enokson
The program seems to be paying off. Library accounts with $10 or more of late fees are automatically suspended, and the library system has already reinstated 3,500 blocked accounts because of the “Read Away” policy. $10 is a lot of money to a young kid, and staff didn’t want to discourage kids from using the library as a learning resource.
Photo Credit: Flickr, Enokson
It would be excellent if other libraries across the country got on board with something like this. Bury your nose in a book – it’s good for you!
Photo Credit: Facebook, Los Angeles Public Library
h/t: Mental Floss
