Since Read•Write•Bermuda launched in June 2014, The Reading Clinic and Cedarbridge students each have access to 20 iPads and 10 Kindles, with 17 applications, to help them learn how to read. BNL’s collection includes 20 iPads, 10 Kindles and 1660 Ebooks in circulation, leading to a 400% increase in Ebook usage in one year.
BNL hosts readings year round by Bermudian authors of various genres as a way to encourage reading and writing on the island. It promotes contemporary authors and asking them to share their work with the public. Authors have included: Brenda Jackson, Bermuda’s own New York Times and USA Today best-selling author; and Dr. Kuni Frith, a local author, who spoke about her book, Bermudian Folk Remedies. Other authors who held readings in 2014-15 include: Crystal Hodipp, Inspiring Moments; Jazmyne Saltus, Ashley Abeerdeen’s Tide Pool Adventures; John Cox, Bermuda Haunts/Bermuda’s Favorite Haunts; Wendy Fulton Steginsky, The Tide of Bermuda’s Light; Melodye Van Putten, Healing History; Melvina Pearman, What Does ‘Today’ Mean; Saadia Bean, Live With All Your Heart; Melodye VanPutten, Rights Arousing Conscious Empowerment—RACE poetry in the BLACK
BNL Winter Reading Programmes such as, Cozy up to a Book and The Winter Escape, lasts throughout winter and also includes new incentives for children and families to improve reading skills during the school year. Last winter the BNL attracted over 1200 participants.
Research has shown that reading over the summer helps keep students from losing skills during vacations and that students who read for fun outperform those who don’t. The Bermuda National Library’s Summer Reading Programmes such as, Have Book, Will Travel and Read to the Rhythm, attracts children and families to join the BNL for its 8-week summer reading programme. It hosts a range of activities for children, teens, and adults that encourage and support a love of reading over the course of the summer. Participants win prizes for reaching their reading goals.
Bermuda National Library has doubled its book collection, significantly enhancing the Library’s role as the national source of reading, writing and literary enjoyment. The E-book Centre within the Library is now equipped with state-of-the-art iPads and Kindles which will support access to the expanded collection as well as to worldwide magazines and newspapers.
