Lompoc residents collectively read for more than 364,000 minutes this summer, quadrupling the number of minutes set in the library’s goal for its annual summer reading challenge.
“Lompoc is a great community, and the reading numbers far exceeded my expectations, which was amazing. We just kept passing our goal, so we changed it, and we passed it again,” Lompoc Library Director Sarah Bleyl said. “It was wonderful to see all of the support.”
The reading challenge calls for residents participating to read for 600 minutes between June 1 and July 31. Upon registration, parents or participants can download the Beanstack app to track how many minutes they read. The library’s original reading goal was 100,000 minutes for 620 participants—who surpassed the goal within the first month. After increasing its goal to 250,000 minutes, final totals surpassed goals again with minutes read at 364,061 minutes.
“A lot of people think summer reading is for kids. Yes, we do target young readers, but one of the things we did this year that was successful: The minute they sign up they get a free book to build their home library, and we do it for adults,” Bleyl said. “A lot of kids encouraged their parents to join, which was cool because we had a lot more adults join this year.”
The Lompoc Library purchased and gave away 1,100 paperback books for all ages, she said.
“The more books we can have out in our community, the better, especially for kids. They’re not cheap. I would’ve never been able to read everything I wanted to read without having the library,” Bleyl said. “This is a way for parents to get good quality books for them without purchasing.”
Having books at their home or seeing their family reading familiarizes kids with books, normalizes reading, and keeps kids on track for the school year, she added.
“A lot of times during the summer there is what they call the summer slide where kids regress because they’re not in school and not going through and learning new things,” Bleyl said. “Reading during the summer can help them maintain that same reading level, especially as they get older. That’s important.”
Up until third grade, students are still learning to read. By fourth grade, kids need to be able to read in order to learn other subjects, she said.
“If you start backsliding at that age, it’s harder to learn other subjects. By having books available during the summer and participating in reading programs, that helps just keep them at the level they were, which is important,” Bleyl said. “It isn’t just about reading, it helps you prepare for new things, new subjects.”
Reading challenges will continue once a month throughout the school year alongside baby story time and preschool story time once a week.
“Every month it’s a different theme to encourage them to read and earn little badges throughout the school year,” Bleyl said.
Highlight
• Santa Barbara County animal services nonprofit C.A.R.E.4Paws celebrated its 15-year anniversary as a nonprofit and the one-year anniversary of its 37-foot state-of-the-art mobile veterinary unit—which serves marginalized communities in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. At the same time, the number of pet families turning to the organization for help with affordable pet wellness has jumped. In the first seven months of 2024, C.A.R.E.4Paws’ clinic program had helped more than 11,000 cats and dogs with low-cost and free wellness services and spays/neuters. To compare, the clinic team assisted 17,500 pets in 2023, 13,000 pets in 2022, and 10,000 in 2021. According to C.A.R.E.4Paws, it’s not unusual for the team to serve 100 to 200 dogs and cats during one clinic day. The mobile clinics operate four to five days a week with two veterinarian teams performing spay/neuter and other surgeries along with providing low-cost vaccines, flea treatment, and nail trims.
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at [email protected].
