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Mayor Jim Arrington announced the LaGrange Mayor’s Reading Club in partnership between the City of LaGrange, Get Troup Reading and the Rotary Club of LaGrange during Tuesday’s city council work session. 

The free program hopes to encourage students to read during the summer break by offering free events and books to families. The events are:

• End of School Celebration at the Lafayette Square on Thursday, May 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET. The Mayor will be reading the book The Coach Potato. 
• The Griggs Center on Thursday, June 5, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. The Mayor will be reading the book The Cool Bean.
• AMC Theater in downtown LaGrange on Thursday, July 10, from 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET. A free movie and snacks will be provided for the first 100 attendees. The Mayor will be reading the book The Sour Grape.
• Back to School Bash at the Lafayette Square on Friday, Aug. 1, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET. The Mayor will be reading the book The Smart Cookie.

“We’re trying to have a little fun and get the kids out and get them reading,” Arrington said at the Tuesday work session of the city council. 

Connie Hensler, president of the Rotary Club of LaGrange, said the funding for the program was made possible through the money raised at the club’s annual 5K run.  

The free program is aimed at promoting literacy skills to kids. It is offered through GeorgiaForward, a Georgia Municipal Association non-profit organization. 

“There are several other communities in Georgia that participate in a mayor’s summer reading club,” said Kim Myers, the Executive Director of Get Troup Reading. “The great thing is, they let us tailor this program to what’s going to fit our community.”

According to the Georgia Department of Education, 36 percent of Georgia students read below grade level by the third grade, based on the 2023-2024 Georgia Milestone reading scores. In Troup County, it is 39 percent. 

“That is not acceptable,” Myers said. “The school system is addressing it, so many nonprofits are addressing it, Get Troup Reading is addressing it. And so this program is just another way the city of Lagrange can help do a small part to make those numbers go down.”

Myers said that low literacy contributes to the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses, healthcare burdens and higher judicial system costs. This is because children who can’t read proficiently by the end of the third grade are more likely to experience poor health, discipline problems and drop out of high school. 

“It’s about making sure parents and families know how important it is that you make reading part of your everyday activities,” Myers said. “Reading aloud to children is crucial for their development, fostering language skills, expanding vocabulary, boosting literacy and strengthening that parent child bond, ultimately leading to a lifelong love of reading.”

Each book given away at these events will come with a parent activity guide. These guides will help adults by highlighting vocabulary, suggesting activities and even talking points to ensure the reading is engaging for the child. 

Myers says her hope is for the program to be a model for the cities of Hogansville and West Point to use next year.