The Reading Challenge is open to all schools, grades Primary to Six. The school must have a partnership with their local public library and their local police.

This can simply be an agreement to help supply books to children through the public library or a more formal partnership where the public library works closely with the children. We have found that the Challenge works best when the public library takes a local leadership role and acts as the liaison between the Challenge organizers (the Adopt-a-Library) and the schools. We strongly encourage this arrangement.

The police should support children’s reading activity by visits and encouragement but they can also go further and work actively with the public library and school.

In summary, the goal is for the school, public library and police to work together for the benefit of the children and encourage literacy development. The Reading Challenge is the vehicle for this to happen.

Prizes

The winners are decided by number of books per capita per school.
1st Place = $3000 CDN to go towards books for the school.
2nd Place = $2000 CDN to go towards books for the school.
3rd Place = $1000 CDN to go towards books for the school.

We would encourage each area to think of local prizes. These could include funds to go towards school library reading materials or could include awards, trophies, etc.

Registration

Registering is a simple process but we need accurate information and you must agree to the rules of the Challenge.

We will need the following information:

The deadline for registration for the 2008/2009 competition is now past.

How the Reading Challenge works

The Reading Challenge encourages children to read, and read regularly, through friendly competition between schools for the most books read. Public libraries and police encourage reading in a variety of ways. They can:

The number of books read is kept track of at the classroom level. We would encourage teachers to work this into their existing curriculum although we do have reading logs available.

The books read are gathered by one person at the school. This can be done on a weekly or monthly basis. Whatever way is convenient. This person goes to the www.fightingcrime.ca website, logs in, selects their school and enters the number and date. The books read are then shown per capita to allow large schools to compete against small schools. The progress of each school is publically available for viewing on the web site.

The WOW Reading Challenge was created to encourage children to read regularly by introducing a friendly competition between schools.  The overall goal is to shine a spotlight on reading.

Children who read well and read regularly have higher self esteem. This allows them to make better decisions which could reduce criminal acts, such as bullying, and create positive thinking adults in the future. This is a long term crime prevention strategy.

The WOW Reading Challenge engages the entire community as a partner in its efforts to encourage kids to read.  The Challenge is a partnership between the Police, Public Libraries, Schools and the community as a whole.  The Challenge is organized by the public libraries and police. The schools provide the venue, allowing the police and libraries to reach the children and motivate them to read.

WOW RULES FOR 2009-2010 PROGRAM

1) Dates: Start Date November 16th 2010 end date April 16th Website locked April 19th at noon.
2) Results will be posted on the Adopt a Library website on April 30th 2010 at noon.
3) Schools must register every year in order to compete in the wow reading challenge.
4) This is a fun program based on trust and we expect all participants to compete in a friendly and courteous manner.
5) What constitutes a book!
     A) 100 pages in a Chapter book = 1 book
     B) A Newspaper if articles are read = 1 book
     C) A Magazine if articles are read = 1 book
     D) A book read = 1 book if less then 100 pages.
6) If an older student reads a book to a younger student that counts as 1 book for one of the two students but not both.
7) If a teacher reads a book to a class that counts as 1 book, not 1 book for everyone in the class just 1 book in total.
8) If the students in a classroom are all reading the same book and are taking turns reading out loud, when that book is finished it counts as a book for all of the students who participated.
9) Books read at home, at school, at the library and anywhere else by the student count and can be listed on the classroom total.
10) Schools must enter their number of books read on line at least three times over the life of the competition or they face being disqualified.  Schools who build up numbers until the end face disqualification.
11) Schools that have not entered any numbers by January 29th 2010 will be removed from the contest.
12) The school must register ALL students between grades primary through 6 to be eligible to compete, even if only one class is reading.
13) The decisions of the advisory committee are final and there are no protests.
14) The winning school enters the Past Champion Category for 4 years and competes only with other past champions.      
15) The Advisory Committee holds the right to disqualify any school if these rules are not followed.

To register for wow contact Karen or Susan at 1-866-779-7761.
For more information email Cst. John Kennedy at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or by phone at 902-755-6031.

Materials

Various materials, such as posters, logs, library card registrations, and parent’s information sheets, are available online for download.

For more information:

Contact Cst. John Kennedy at 1-902-755-6031 or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Those participating in the Reading Challenge will be asked to officially join the Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program. This membership entitles you to discounts and to take part in other programs.