Rays announce return of “Reading with the Rays” summer program

This summer, the Rays and Suncoast Credit Union will host the 12th season of Reading with the Rays—Read Your Way to the Ballpark, an incentive-based reading program that encourages Pre-K to 12th grade students to avoid summer learning loss by reading for 24 hours during the summer months.

Participating libraries track students’ progress and award prizes for reaching certain goals, including two free tickets to a Rays game.

Reading with the Rays is made possible with the help of the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education and public library systems in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Citrus, Polk, Pasco, Hernando, Sarasota and Charlotte counties.

Kids will be able to pick up their Reading with the Rays game card at a participating library to begin reading around the bases. The program officially begins on Sunday, June 2, with the inclusion of the Reading with the Rays insert in the Sunday Edition of the Tampa Bay Times.

This year, Rays players and coaches will again read books, discuss the importance of reading, ask trivia questions and hand out prizes at various participating schools and libraries as part of three Reading with the Rays visits.

Since the program’s inception in 2007, over 300,000 children across nine area counties have spent more than 2 million hours of their summers reading.

For how it works, we turn to the team’s site (raysbaseball.com/reading):

The rules of the game are simple. Choose your favorite books from your local library or your favorite section of the Tampa Bay Times to read over the summer. As you read, track your hours by rounding the bases and collect Rays prizes along the way.

When you read enough hours to get on first base, ask your parent or guardian to initial your card and bring it to your local library. The librarian will sign your card and give you a reading reward. Round the bases by reading a total of 24 hours this summer and receive two tickets to a Rays game!

Nuevo este año, ahora puede completar este programa en español! Más información aquí.

Reading with the Rays is in its 12th season thanks to the team’s partnership with Sun Coast Credit Union.

“We believe that through reading, children are empowered in school and better prepared for life,” said Executive Director of Suncoast Credit Union Foundation Cindy Helton. “This program encourages children to read and we hope to see thousands of hours logged this summer.”

Find a participating library near you:

• Charlotte County - http://www.charlottecountyfl.com/Library/
• Citrus County - http://www.citruslibraries.org/
• Hernando County - http://www.hcpl.lib.fl.us/
• Hillsborough County - http://www.thpl.org/
• Indian Rocks Beach- http://www.indian-rocks-beach.com/irb_library.php
• Manatee County - http://www.mymanatee.org/library
• New Port Richey- http://nprlibrary.org/
• Pasco County - http://pascolibraries.org/
• Pinellas County - http://www.pinellascounty.org/library.htm
• Polk County - http://www.mypclc.org/
• Sarasota County - https://www.scgov.net/government/departments/libraries

This is a great program for kids and worth celebrating.

Go Rays.