Summer Reading Is More Than OK
Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2000
Oklahoma 2000 Summer Reading Program: www.connectok.com/summerfunsite
Kids don't usually turn to the newspaper first for fun summer reading. But they might in Oklahoma, where a goofy-looking frog on the Daily Oklahoman's Web site (www.oklahoman.com) is the graphic link to Oklahoma's statewide summer reading program. For the third year running, the Oklahoma Department of Libraries (www.odl.state.ok.us) has teamed up with the Daily Oklahoman newspaper and Connect Oklahoma (connectok.com), the company responsible for the Oklahoman Online, to put the program online. The site links to the Oklahoma Department of Libraries' site, where users can find any public library in Oklahoma.
Noise and nostalgia: The site includes a look back into the 20th century and bibliographies of recommended books on it. There is some unexpected interactivity--audible "mouseovers." If you draw the mouse arrow over some of the illustrations, you'll hear sounds: the frog croaks, the clock ticks, and the snake giggles, for example.
Statewide commitment: Marcy Williams (
marcyw@connectok.com), Connect Oklahoma's project manager and a retired teacher, says that ConnectOK wants to demonstrate a commitment to reading year-round. The entire program won the American Library Association's John Cotton Dana library public relations award in 1999. The theme for 2000 is "Totally Timeless Tales."Columns of content: Williams works with Donna Norvell, youth services consultant of Oklahoma's Office of Library Development, to develop content for the site, which includes links to book lists, book-award sites, ideas for "things to do," and a weekly Q&A contest that runs through July 31. The activities introduce kids to newspapers by taking them through sections of the Oklahoman Online. Kids can learn about the First Amendment, columnists, comics, political cartoons, editorials, and ads. Prizes will be awarded to contest winners.
