Reading Under the Lights expands to curb summer learning loss

Reading Under the Lights reached 2,402 students and distributed 13,847 books in its latest spring round, a scale that shows the literacy effort has moved well beyond a small giveaway and into a regional summer-learning intervention.

United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties is expanding the program with Wayne County Public Library and Holmes County District Public Library, keeping it tied to local library systems and six area school districts rather than running it as a one-off charity drive. The stated aim is to curb summer learning loss, the slide in reading skills that can hit hardest when school is out and books are harder to get home.

The program has grown steadily. A 2023 round placed Reading Under the Lights in six area school districts to reduce the impact of the summer slide. By 2024, a separate Wayne County effort had stretched the model to seven area school districts, showing that the format can be adjusted as communities add partners and resources. The latest spring numbers, 2,402 students and 13,847 books, suggest the push is now operating at a scale that can reach classrooms, families and libraries at the same time.

Wooster City Schools and United Way marked the 10th anniversary of Reading Under the Lights on May 18 at Maurer Field, where more than 1,200 students, families, educators and community members gathered. That event underscored how the program has become part of the region’s school-year rhythm, not just a summer add-on.

Funding has helped keep that network moving. United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties received $500 in 2023 to cover new books for pre-K through eighth-grade participants. In 2025, the Wayne County Community Youth Foundation awarded another $1,000 for books children could keep over the summer, followed later that year by $3,500 for colored tarps and flags used in the program.

For Holmes County families, the expansion comes alongside other reading options already on the calendar. Holmes County District Public Library’s 2026 Summer Reading Program runs June 1 through July 25 at the Central Library in Millersburg and the East Branch in Walnut Creek, while Wayne County Public Library’s Summer Reading Club began May 26.

The next test is whether the growing reach is landing with the students who need the most help, especially those who start summer with the biggest reading gaps. If the books continue flowing through schools, libraries and family events, the program could keep more children in Holmes County reading long after the classroom lights go off.