Summer Reading Tips for EHS

It’s time for the annual Summer Reading post. I know, you just finished school this year. But it's unavoidable. You have to get it done before going back to school, so you might as well at least THINK about your required summer reading! Hey, why not even do it right so that it’s less painful at the last minute. The past couple of years, I’ve posted a few hints for high school students looking to find their summer reading titles. A lot of the tips and hints are the same… but they’re pretty important!

So whether this is your first year doing required reading or your fourth, here's a few things to know that will make your Summer Reading requirements go a little easier:

• If you've already somehow managed to lose your list, we have them available on our website by grade. Go here. 

• Do it EARLY! Seriously. At least come in early and get your name on the request list. Not joking. In another week or two, every popular book on the lists will be checked out and with a request list so long you wouldn't get the book until a month into school. If it's still, by some miracle, in the library, it's probably one that no one wants to read. (Maybe that 1000+ page doorstop one?) Besides, if you do it early, you don't have to worry about it at the end of the summer AND you'll still be fine once you get to school because the teachers let you take your hand-written notes into class. (Hint: take notes!)

• An important hint for searching for your title through us: Don't forget to check to see if we have it in non-print formats... you might get lucky that way! We have many of the classics (and some non-classics) in audio format, but don't forget eBooks! Over 30 of the titles from all 4 grades are available through the Carbon Lehigh Downloadable Library! Almost 2/3 of those are “Always Available” titles (Books that have no checkout limit and can always be downloaded, no matter how many people have it checked out). This means if you wait until the beginning of August to do your reading, and a classic title is an option on your reading list and you have some type of eReader, smartphone or iPod touch, you are saved from the scavenger hunt across the Lehigh Valley looking for a book!

• If it's checked out here and it's not a classic (one that might be on every other school district's reading list), check at Parkland, Allentown, Southern Lehigh or any other library you're willing to drive to (but since it's also in East Penn, you probably won't find it at Emmaus.). Their required reading lists probably won't have the same titles and you're more likely to get lucky and find it on the shelves there.

• Make it a little more worthwhile... it's required reading, but why not enter our Teen Read Raffle and possibly win a gift card to Rita's or Barnes and Noble? Also, this summer, we’ll post about some required reading titles on our Teen Blog.

Parents, you’re probably the ones finding this, so help us out by sending your teen this link… email it, share it on Facebook, whatever’s a good way to get ahold of your student. We love to help people find books, but in another month, there’s going to be little we can do to get a physical book from the list in your student’s hands!

Good luck this summer!