Congratulations Raven Bolyer, on Your Achievement!

The Bienville Parish Library is very proud to congratulate the second “reading 1000 Books Before Kindergarten” champion, Miss Raven Bolyer of Castor, Louisiana. Raven’s parents, Byron and Jessica Bolyer, are incredibly supportive patrons of the Castor Branch. Together, Raven and her parents began the program in November 2020, and reached the goal of 1,000 books on August 3, 2022. As Raven’s smile indicates, she is proud of her achievement! There was a grand celebration with balloons and pictures, and a gift bag of goodies to mark the occasion.

Raven loves a good storybook! Her favorites are any “Frozen” themed books with sisters frosty Elsa, and adventurous and loving Anna. Oh, and over in another area of the library, Raven likes to keep up with the latest angling techniques, and learn about the different fish swimming in the lakes, creeks, and oceans!

Twice Loved, Twice Read!

Once Raven’s parents have read a book, she takes the same book and creates her own story from the illustrations. This shows her highly developed sense of creativity, imagination, and blossoming intellect. Raven will be more than ready to enter kindergarten in August 2022.

Other Children Work on their Own Milestone!

Since beginning the program there are other children and their parents that are well on their way to reaching their individual milestones and it won’t take them long to reach their 1000 books!

What is the “1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program”?

The 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program is based on the very familiar summer reading program format and encourages and rewards reading with fun incentives to keep going until they reach the 1000 book goal. The program encourages parents of children from birth to 5 years to sign up for and begin reading! Based on solid evidence from research that finds that the more children hear books read to them, the more prepared they will be when they reach kindergarten.

The Benefits are Lifelong!

• Instills the love of reading that lasts a lifetime!
• Fosters a positive connection to the library for families and children.
• Reinforces parents’ role as their child’s first and best teachers.
• Creates a network of families and children that are committed to literacy and education.

The Bienville Parish Library has the program available at all locations and has made it super easy to get started! Parents that are interested in beginning the program check with their librarian. All the materials to get started are available at your neighborhood Bienville Parish Library. There are reading logs available, and with every 100-book milestone, they have their picture taken and receive a small treat to make the occasion special.

A Thousand Books? That’s a Lot!

Actually, it doesn’t take as long as you might think! If you read one book at bedtime for three years that’s 1,095 books. If you read three books a day that’s 1,095 books in one year! If they attend a Storytime, or watch the Storytime on the Bienville Parish Library YouTube channel, that counts! If a child LOVES a particular book and you read it more than once, it counts! You could read a “Pete the Cat” book ten times and each time, it counts! Every book, no matter how many times you read it to your child, it counts toward your 1000 books! You’ll reach your 1,000 books and exceed that number in no time – and your little one will be ready for Kindergarten!

To find out more about how you can get started with the “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” program, visit your neighborhood Bienville Parish Library and ask your librarian for all the materials to get going. See You at the Library!

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