Arlington Kids Read: Community Read-a-Thon

The Reading Connection, in conjunction with Arlington Magazine, has created a new reading initiative, Arlington Kids Read. Its goal is to promote reading for Arlington kids and families and to raise funds to support TRC's ongoing reading programs for at-risk kids.


Arlington Kids Read will have events throughout the year, starting with a Community Reading Festival on May 12 and followed by a Community Read-a-Thon from May 12 through May 19.  

The festival will be an afternoon of reading fun from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy St, Arlington, VA 22201. There will be crafts led by TRC volunteers, goodie bags, face painting and read-alouds with guest readers including 

• Bilingual storyteller Mariela Aguilar

• School board member Sally Baird

• Meteorologist Adam Caskey

• Children’s book author Jacqueline Jules

• Children’s librarian Lisa Cosgrove-Davies

• Chef Rob Valencia

Clifford will even make a guest appearance, courtesy of WETA Kids. Goodie bags will include information about various summer reading programs offered throughout the county, the Read-a-Thon log book and other treats from the event's sponsors.

Many of the Arlington Read-Aloud sites, including Woodbury Park, the Berkeley and Virginia Gardens, will participate in the Read-a-Thon during the week of May 14. If you're reading with the kids at those sites that week, be sure to mention the Read-a-Thon and ask them how many minutes they've read so far that day. Time spent reading at a Read-Aloud counts towards the children's total minutes read for the day. Of the sites participating, the one with the highest average minutes read will win a pizza party and a book for each child. All children who participate will receive a certificate and will be entered to win one of several other prizes offered.


If you're interested in bringing the kids in your life to the festival, you can RSVP here. Feel free to pass this information on to friends and family. A flyer for the event can be found here. For more information about the Arlington Kids Read Campaign, check out the website at www.ArlingtonKidsRead.org.  


If you can't make it to the Community Reading Festival on May 12, don't fret, there will be more Arlington Kids Read events throughout the year. We'll be hosting several back-to-school story times throughout Arlington in September. We'll be looking for TRC volunteers to help as readers and activity coordinators for these events. If you know of a organization or place that might be a good host for one of these story times, please let Stephanie know.