Reading program names winners
Winners from the Union County Public Library System’s Summer Reading program have been announced.
The reading program ran from June 7 through July 16. Michael O’Connell, UCPLS executive director, said over 200 people signed up to participate.
On July 16, readers were recognized with a party at the Barton Library.
“[We] want to promote literacy with this. The program helps with fluency, comprehension and other skills,” Nelson said.
Winners from each of the program’s age divisions were selected based on how many books they read.
In the adult division, Cassandra Plotner took first place, Chaney Smith, second, and Taylor Parks, third.
In the teen division, Elizabeth Legg took home a $40 Walmart gift card for winning first-place. Warren and Wallace Reynolds took $20 and $10 gift cards for winning second a third place, respectively.
In the children’s division, Jackson Burton took first place, while Lillian Geurin took second and Elizabeth Geurin took third. They won $40, $20 and $10 Walmart gift cards, respectively.
In the four years and under division, Michael Burke took first place and Nelson Geurin took second, while Klaasha Ploter took third.
Jennifer Legg said last month that she had several children who participated in the program and she saw their interest in reading skyrocket as a result of their participation.
“This makes a big difference… and helps keep up their skills during the summer,” Legg said.
Currently, all the branches of the UCPLS, which include the Barton Library in El Dorado, the Harper Memorial Library in Junction City, and branch libraries in Huttig, Strong, Norphlet and Smackover, are open.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some occupancy limits are in place at the libraries, but borrowing limits have been raised, loan times extended to three weeks and late fines are on hold for now.
Readers can also utilize e-books through the Libby by Overdrive app, which offers over 50,000 titles and is available to both Apple and Android users.