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Try this: Read 1M pages in 90 days
By D.A. WILKINSON
SALEM
Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, start reading.
Actually, everyone should wait until Monday, the official start of a reading program at the Salem Public Library.
It is sponsoring a challenge to all residents of the Salem community — and beyond — to read 1 million pages in 90 days.
The event is the Quaker Million Page Reading Challenge 2010.
Brad Stephens, the library’s director and fiscal officer, said the library has been looking for a way to involve the community as a whole.
The reading project has been done in other communities, but it has not been widely used.
“We were looking for a good way of learning and getting people excited about literacy as a whole,” he said.
The city schools and St. Paul Catholic School in Salem will take part in their classrooms.
Very young children can take part if they are read to by the library staff through programs at the library.
The program will end Jan. 2, 2011.
Stephens said there would be updates on milestones in the program, such as when the program reaches half-a- million pages.
Here are the rules:
Everyone in the community may participate.
People do not have to be Salem Public Library patrons.
People choose their reading material, such as books, textbooks, newspapers, magazines or graphic novels, that interest them.
People should track the number of pages they read or the pages that are read to them.
People should fill out a “pages read” form at the library and give it to a library staff member. The library will total the numbers of pages and post them in the library, Twitter and on Facebook.
Prizes will be awarded to randomly selected participants who read a minimum number of pages (250 to 1,000 pages, depending on age) and to the person who reads the millionth page.
For more information, call the library at 330-332-0042, visit the library at 821 E. State St., or visit the library website at www.salem.lib.oh.us.