Circus tickets offered to library children

WESLACO — Perhaps the last thing that comes to mind at the mention of a public library is a three-ring circus.
But the Weslaco public Library aims to change that.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey have brought the Reading with Ringling Bros. book program to the Weslaco Public Library.
The program is an effort to get little locals to read by offering circus tickets as an incentive, said Assistant Library Director Jesus Campos.

"The kids have to read five books to get passes to go to the circus," Campos said. "We can only give out one ticket per child. The kids get a pass card that we stamp when they read a book. Once they get to five stamps, they can take the card to the ticket office and redeem it for a ticket."

While it tries to maintain high reading comprehension levels, the library's main focus for this project is not the ranking of difficulty, Campos said. 

"We put a little bit of pressure on (kids) if they're at a higher reading level and they read easy books but it's informal," he said. "We try not to get too much into the reading-level details because it breaks the spirit of enjoying reading."

Campos said the prospect of children coming to enjoy books is the program's main objective.

"Apart from enjoying the circus, this is a good way to get kids interested in expanding their horizons through reading," he said. "Hopefully this induces an appreciation for learning that will carry into school and other activities in the future."

The Ringling Bros. Circus Boom a Ring will be held at the Dodge Arena on Aug. 13-17 so kids still have plenty of time to enroll said Campos.

Children from ages 2-12 interested in joining the program can sign up with the librarian at the Weslaco Public Library. Membership in Reading with Ringling Bros. is free and includes bookmarks, clown noses, puzzles and coloring sheets.

"We already have 930 kids signed up for the program; so that gives you an idea of the level of interest," said Campos. "We also have other events here; we like to try and mix it up so it's not just ‘let's sit down and read in the library.' We make it an interesting learning experience."