While most are watching the Olympics at home during the month of February, some people are reading 300 minutes for the chance to win $25 gift cards to the retailer of their choice during the Hamilton East Public Library’s (HEPL) winter reading Olympics.
Program Coordinator Allison Kartman helped organize this event, which has been going on for a couple of years now. Kartman’s goals for the event are rooted in the community.
“Our goal with the Winter Reading Program is to engage our community with literacy and the library,” she explained. “During the winter, most outdoor activities and events slow down, so it’s a perfect time to cozy up with a good book.”
Readers enjoy books in many different forms; however, this competition does not discriminate against the different reading types.
“Personally, I read books in multiple ways, and everyone has a preference, and that is ok,” Kartman continued. “If you are a person who easily gets distracted, then I would not recommend reading on a phone or tablet. There are multiple options for e-readers for people to purchase that our Libby app can support. I seem to stumble onto online arguments about whether audiobooks count as ‘real reading.’ You can take my professional word for it, listening to audiobooks counts as reading! We love accessibility in libraries, and audiobooks play a big part in that.”
Fishers High School English teacher Eduardo Torres believes that students can benefit heavily from reading.
“I think it is hugely important because reading is sort of the base foundation for a lot of the skills that we want people to have,” Torres said. “Whether it is critical thinking, whether it is empathy, whether it is understanding situational relationships, there is nothing that we do that at the foundation of it is not in reading, so I think it is important. Now, I do not care what you read, but I do think reading on a regular basis is important.”
He also believes that the reading competition is beneficial for the mind and that there is a specific mindset for these challenges.
“If you are going to do a reading challenge, then you go, ‘I am going to read three books this month,’ or ‘I am going to read 100 hours over this period,’ it is just another way to consume that thing and garner interest, so I do not have a problem with that,” he explained. “Like the same way someone is going to say, ‘I am going to spend the next three months and train for a half marathon,’ I’m going to spend the next three months and I’m going to read this series of books.”
Everett Mason, a junior at Fishers High School, has his own beliefs on the importance of reading and how it is less important to him.
“Reading doesn’t mean very much to me, but I wish it did,” Mason said. “My life is controlled by my phone instead of reading.”
You can still compete in the HEPL’s competition until Feb. 28, you can also continue supporting the library by showing up.
“If you haven’t been to the library in a while, come check us out because we have so much more than books!” Kartman explained. “Classes, programs, book clubs, makerspaces; the list goes on and on. You can support us by getting a library card, checking out materials and attending programs because these actions help us show the community and legislators that libraries are worth the investment, and if you ever have a suggestion of something you’d like to see at the library, we would love to hear about it. Libraries and librarians are here to serve their communities, and that is you.”
