Submitted Photo William and Isabella Anderson pose for a photograph to promote reading.

Area literacy leaders are working together to demonstrate the life-changing impact 20 minutes can have on a child’s life. On Thursday, June 3, they are kicking off their #ReadFor20 campaign at 5 p.m. with Mayor Shaun Sipma reading at Main Street Books.

Reading provides not only joy and recreation, but according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, reading to children of any age strengthens the left side their brain which improves understanding and memory. Further, the experience of being read to helps children develop good listening skills by making them aware of the important components of language.

“Having your child read for just 20 minutes a day can drastically improve their test scores and increase their vocabulary,” said Sara Medalen a teacher at Sunnyside Elementary and the 2020 North Dakota Teacher of the Year. Whether your child reads alone or you read together, reading will not only help in school success, but will stimulate imagination which can introduce them to concepts, cultures, and possibilities beyond their own experiences.

Minot Public Library Children’s Librarian Randi Monley further explained: “20 minutes is less than the average Disney or PBS children’s television show and the average length of many YouTube videos. However, 20 minutes of reading can have immediate and important impacts.” Monley said that when children read for 20 minutes a day they could be hearing (and thereby learning) up to 1.8 million words per year. Those who don’t regularly read will not have this advantage of increased vocabulary. This could lead to spending an additional 6 weeks of the school year re-learning old material. As this is especially common during the summer, it’s often referred to as the Summer Slide.

To help prevent this, area educators, librarians, and children’s advocates are joining forces to help make sure children have the opportunity to read for at least 20 minutes per day. Organizers will help make this happen in a variety of ways.

“We’ll be having school staff hanging out at the Minot Public Library for “Thursday Takeover” throughout the summer to encourage students to come visit and get reading suggestions,” Erin Zietz said. Zietz is a teacher at Washington Elementary and the president-elect of the North Central Reading Council. “Further, we want to get books into the hands of kids all over Minot and share the joy of stories.” Zietz said that she and other community leaders are happy to stop by any business or organization to read stories. Anyone interested in hosting a story telling should contact Sara Medalen at 721-5712 or Randi Monley at randi.monley@minot-nd.org.

Brain development, vocabulary, memory, language, and test scores are all obvious benefits of reading, but the value goes beyond these. According to readingfoundation.org: “for every year an adult reads with a child, the child’s potential lifetime earnings increases by $50,000.” Essentially, parents make a $250,000 gift to their child from birth to age five by reading aloud for 20 minutes every day.

This is one reason that Monley will be offering books to reward children who complete the Library’s Summer Learning Program. Teen Librarian Pam Carswell adds that 20 minutes of reading each day is just as important for older students. Carswell said: “We’ve always given gift cards to local book stores as prizes for teens who complete the teen Summer Reading Program, and this will continue in 2021 as we know the importance of teens being able to choose what they read.”

The value of reading for teens was especially noted in a study published by the American Psychological Association in 2018. This research examined teen reading and media habits from 1976 to 2016 and found that the amount of time teens spent reading drastically declined. This decline provides immense challenges as teens enter college and careers. “Think about how difficult it must be to read even five pages of an 800-page college textbook when you’ve been used to spending most of your time switching between one digital activity and another in a matter of seconds. It really highlights the challenges students and faculty both face in the current era,” said researcher Jean Twenge. “There’s no lack of intelligence among young people, but they do have less experience focusing for longer periods of time and reading long-form text.”

It’s important for young people of all ages to see adults in their lives reading as well. According to a December, 2019 New York Post article “Studies show that reading for at least 20 minutes each day sharpens a variety of skills that are valuable in the workforce, including memory retention, social-emotional skills and critical thinking, to name a few.” The ability to focus for 20 minutes also helps lead to informed voters and involved citizens who can critically evaluate issues.

Medalen also stressed the importance of reading together as a method of strengthening family relationships. She noted that “families who read together for 20 minutes a day, 7 days a week, will get 121 hours of bonding time every year.”

Finally, reading for 20 minutes per day is not just food for the brain. Reading reduces stress and helps people relax and wind down and therefore sleep better. Research by the UK National Literacy Trust (NLT) found that “90% of children feel “happiest” when reading and writing, as opposed to playing games or watching favorite cartoons.” Following months of stress and turmoil, who couldn’t use more happiness and less stress in their life? Give yourself and the children in your life the gift of reading by making time to read for 20 minutes every day.

For more information on Minot’s #ReadFor20 campaign or to schedule a guest reader, contact Sara Medalen at 721-5712 or Randi Monley at randi.monley@minotnd.org or follow the Minot Public Library’s Facebook or Instagram pages.