An article currently posted on the web site of Scholastic, Inc., "Bridging the Summer Reading Gap," summarizes the importance of summer reading this way: "While the statistics on summer reading loss seem discouraging, there are answers. Studies suggest that children who read as few as six books over the summer maintain the level of reading skills they achieved during the preceding school year. Reading more books leads to even greater success. When children are provided with 10 to 20 self-selected children's books at the end of the regular school year, as many as 50 percent not only maintain their skills, but actually make reading gains."

According to a June 2006 study by Scholastic, "Kids and Family Reading Report," the time children spend reading for fun rapidly declines after age 8 and remains in decline through the teen years. But the national survey also found that parents can have a direct impact on their childrens’ reading attitudes and habits, especially by reading more frequently themselves and helping children find books they like. One key finding revealed that more than three-quarters of children who report reading more books for fun "agree a lot" that reading during the summer helps them do better in school.

We tend to get so caught up in what’s newfangled and fashionable that it’s easy to overlook the tried-and-true staples of American society, the building blocks of quality and success.

Reading is surely one of them.

So I’ll also take this opportunity to give a nod to the public library. It’s still the place that beckons us to read, and it’s still a place that offers young people exciting and worthwhile reading opportunities. The public library continues to receive especially high marks for being well-suited to help address key societal challenges including providing a meaningful, engaging and productive gathering place for teens, combating illiteracy, and improving reading skills across the age spectrum. At a time when many wonder exactly what the future might hold for reading and traditional library services in an increasingly technology-driven society, it’s encouraging to note that Americans, overwhelmingly, continue to prize a public library.

Here are some statistics from the American Library Association:

-- Sixty-three percent of adults in America have a public library card;

-- Americans spend $30.49 a year for the public library -- about the average cost of one hardcover book. We check out an average of more than seven books annually;

-- Public libraries are the No. 1 point of online access for people without Internet connections at home, school, or work.

All of the above reflect well on the importance of our public libraries nationwide, but perhaps most heartening was this one: More than 90% of the respondents to a 2006 poll conducted for the American Library Association expect libraries to be needed in the future, even in the face of the increasingly widespread availability of modern technology and its subsequent impact on how and where we get our information.

Let’s hope so, for many reasons, not the least being that summer reading matters.

I’ve long been grateful for opportunities to support our local public libraries. I’m grateful for the chance to recognize their importance to the cultural, educational, and recreational interests of our communities. I’m glad to be able help promote the public library as a community cornerstone.

Many local libraries, of course, offer summer reading programs and I encourage families across the region to take advantage of them.

I’ll also take this chance to extend, one final time, the availability of a summer reading opportunity sponsored by the New York State Senate. Our annual program, which we promote through area schools, is geared toward young readers. This year, in recognition of the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympic games, it’s called the "Summertime Reading Olympics." It’s a simple opportunity to encourage a young person to visit the library this summer, check out three books to read, record a few thoughts on each of them in a journal, and return the completed journal to my office to receive a certificate and bookmark.

If your child didn’t receive a copy of the Senate’s "Summertime Reading Olympics Journal" but would still like to participate, just click below on CONTACT to e-mail your request.