DAPHNE, Ala. — The top three winners of each age category in the Daphne Public Library’s summer reading program will be recognized  at Monday’s city council meeting.

Winners were as follows: 

—Joseph Tapia, 5,510 pages                                                             

—Kassy Seale, 2,065 pages                                                                

—Shelagh Van Anglen, 1,674 pages

—Jacob Green, 168 books

—Autumn Ford, 130 books

—Amber Burke, 114 books

—Abbie Green, 125 books

—Brady O’Neal, 56 books

—Tie: Emma Fanning and Gabriel Viator, 44 books

—Dianna Burke, 122 books

—Tie: Huey Baxter and Ace Baxter, 103 books

—Gavin Jordan, 100 books

Children and teens deserve a reward for their hard work, according to Louise Youngblood, young adult librarian, and Cathy Chandler, children’s librarian.

“Awarding recognition helps the individual — in this case, the young adult — feel that their efforts have been noticed and appreciated,” Youngblood said. “It affirms their actions and choices.  

“Young adults want to enter the adult world; this is one way that they can begin to build their self-confidence to do so.”

Chandler said she hopes the small push inspired children to read and to ultimately become better students.

“We hope that contests such as ours, give children the incentive to read and experience the benefits of it,” she said.

“Catch the Reading Bug” — this year’s summer reading theme for the program that ran from June 2–26 — taught children about insect anatomy, habitats and metamorphosis through classes, guest speakers and a reading contest, plus activities with puppets and crafts.

The program encouraged learning through reading, Chandler said.

“Reading is really the backbone of a good education,” she said. “Reading broadens the imagination and builds vocabulary; it gives insight and engages the reader in critical thinking.  

“Students who embrace reading both in their academic subjects and for enjoyment tend to do better in school than non-readers.”

Youngblood agreed that reading is crucial to education as well as the teenage experience.

“Reading opens new ideas, perspectives, and viewpoints to young adults; this is paramount to teens especially as they thrust their selves into the adult world, anxiously wanting to experience independence,” she said.

Teens learned about insects, but were given more freedom for their reading logs, she said. They could read magazines and newspapers or any kind of book.

Popular themes included fantasy, dragons, mythical fiction, goblins and adventure, she said.

“‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ by C.S. Lewis was popular,” she said.