L to R: Julia Doggett, Kyle Doggett, Isaiah Ochoa, Luke Doggett, Riley Pagel, Avery Gosnell, Clara Stryker, Helios Ochoa, Antonio Gloria with Children’s Librarian, Kelly Ashley.

The 2016 Summer Reading Program concluded with an awards presentation and celebration on Tuesday, July 19, at the Port O’Connor Library. This free annual program is hosted by Calhoun County Public Library system.

Friends of Port O’Connor Library members are proud of the young readers in our community and were excited to contribute additional prizes to award them for their efforts.

This year, 12 children turned in reading logs for a total of 145.4 hours read! Young readers included 6 boys and 6 girls ranging in age from 2 to 14. Participants included Clara Stryker, Avery Gosnell, Rylie Pagel, Luke Doggett, Kyle Doggett, Sarah Doggett, Julia Doggett, Ready Gee, Carly Rosenboom, Antonio Gloria, Helios Ochoa, and Isaiah Ochoa.

At the awards day, readers and their chaperones enjoyed cake and refreshments provided by the Calhoun County Public Library and their sponsors. Participants were presented with awards based on the amount of time they read including coupons for treats such as an Icee or Happy Meal, t-shirts, school supplies, toys, and candy.

The top 3 readers for 2016 were Sarah Doggett (37.7 hrs), Carly Rosenboom (26 hrs), and Ready Gee (20 hrs). They were all excited to receive a Visa gift card from Friends of Port O’Connor Library.

Additionally, Friends provided a snack pack for each of the 12 readers. (Thank you POC Hardware for the bags!) Then, for every two hours they read, the child’s name was entered in a drawing for various prizes including toys, games, coloring posters, science experiments, and more. Friends volunteers were happy to see the young readers’ faces light up when their names were drawn.

Friends of POC Library were happy to participate in this meaningful community program and look forward to assisting the county library system with future programs. – Roxanne Ochoa