TD Summer Reading Club at Toronto Public Library

Destination Jungle encourages children to explore the joys of reading

TORONTO, June 30 /CNW/ - The TD Summer Reading Club, one of Toronto Public Library's free cornerstone programs for children, is now up and running. This summer, reading with a flashlight under the covers and imagining lions and tigers and monkeys, will be a fun way for kids to keep up with their reading skills thanks to the TD Summer Reading Club. This year's theme is "Destination Jungle."

To encourage participation, Toronto Public Library is offering reading games, challenges and discussions, book-related crafts, author visits and storytelling sessions at its 99 branches. The TD Summer Reading Club website, http://tdsrc.torontopubliclibrary.ca also has all kinds of activities, reading lists and related sleuthing fun. To find out more, pick up a copy of the July-August What's On at local branches, or visit the library website at www.torontopubliclibrary.ca for details about Destination Jungle programs and events.

"Statistics show Canadian kids aren't reading enough: four in 10 youths have insufficient reading skills," said Frank McKenna, Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group and TD's Literacy Champion. "We can help make an improvement by encouraging more children to read at a younger age. The TD Summer Reading Club is a fun and engaging approach to helping Canadian families foster a love of reading during the summer months and for many years beyond."

Now in its fifteenth year, the TD Summer Reading Club is a partnership with the Toronto Public Library and Library and Archives Canada. There were over 500,000 participants across Canada in last year's program, reading more than 1.9 million books before heading back to school in September. In Toronto, more than 30,000 children participated in the program last year.

Toronto Public Library is the world's busiest urban public library system. Every year, more than 17.5 million people visit our 99 branches and borrow more than 31 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit our website at torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answerline at 416-393-7131.

For further information: Media Contact: Anne Marie Aikins, Manager, Corporate Communications, [phone], [email protected]