To optimize the urban forestry management programs, a review is currently under way, including interviews with key
<br />internal and external partners and a community survey. Eugene’s urban forest provides an array of environmental, health,
<br />economic and aesthetic benefits for the community that warrants careful thought and consideration. This review will help
<br />provide direction for its management and stewardship over the coming decades.
<br />
<br />To take the survey, visit www.eugene-or.gov/urbanforest. For more information, contact Park Operations Manager Kevin
<br />Finney at 541-682-4809 or Kevin.P.Finney@ci.eugene.or.us.
<br />
<br />Thousands Enjoy Summer Reading at Eugene Public Library
<br />This year, thousands of community members benefitted from Summer Reading activities at the Eugene Public Library with
<br />the theme “Dig into Reading!”
<br />
<br />Over 6,800 children and more than 1,200 teens will start the school year stronger
<br />this fall because they signed up for the Eugene Public Library’s Summer Reading
<br />2013 at one of the Library’s three locations or at the United Way Summer Reading
<br />Spot in Bethel, a designated Promise Neighborhood. Each youth got to choose a
<br />free book to keep, courtesy of the Friends of Eugene Public Library, and they each
<br />set a personal reading goal for the summer. Giving youth the power to set their
<br />own goals increases their personal commitment, which strengthens the value of
<br />
<br />following through on something that is important to them.
<br />
<br />To further engage youth with reading and learning, the Library offered hands-on
<br />activities at all locations, drawing about 4,000 kids and teens. From music to
<br />magic and art to science, young people explored a wide variety of topics and
<br />cultures. Also, during the summer the Library continued to offer weekly
<br />storytimes; 12 sessions a week, individually designed to meet the pre-literacy
<br />developmental needs of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. More than 6,300 young children and their grown-ups attended
<br />storytimes this summer.
<br />
<br />Eugene’s adults were great role models for youth, making the most of their own Summer Reading choices and activities.
<br />Over 900 signed up for the adult Summer Reading program; Adult Summer Readers received Friends of Eugene Public
<br />Library book bags, plus coupons for Novella Café and the Friends’ bookstore, Second Hand Prose. Fifty adults shared book
<br />reviews online at the Library’s website, and a variety of author talks, workshops, and concerts were attended by 1,800
<br />people.
<br />
<br />The Eugene Public Library’s annual Summer Reading program is fun for all ages – and it’s important to the community’s
<br />well-being. While local kids were having a good time enjoying stories, creating art, experimenting with science, and playing
<br />games at the Library, they were also fighting back the “summer slump.” That’s the educational term for the predictable
<br />drop in knowledge and skills that students experience between the end of one school year and the start of the next. Also
<br />known as “summer learning loss” and “summer set-back,” this phenomenon has been studied since 1906. Research shows
<br />that over summer break, the average student loses up to one month’s worth of progress, if they do not stay actively
<br />engaged with reading.
<br />
<br />The Library appreciates everyone who participated in Summer Reading 2013, and thanks the community partners whose
<br />support helped make it possible: dozens of Library volunteers, the Friends of Eugene Public Library, Eugene Public Library
<br />Foundation, United Way of Lane County, and Novella Café. For more information, visit www.eugene-or.gov/library or call
<br />the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450.
<br />
<br />Spay and Neuter Clinic Composts Towards Zero Waste
<br />The Spay and Neuter Clinic takes waste reduction seriously. During last year’s
<br />Northwest EcoChallenge staff applied for, and won, a Zero Waste Kitchen Set to reduce
<br />the amount of single-use paper plates and plastic utensils used at the clinic. This year
<br />the clinic wants to compost herbivore manure, from animals taken in at the facility such
<br />as rabbits, guinea pigs, and chickens.
<br />
<br />The herbivore manure and bedding at the clinic is made of 80 percent newspaper, 15
<br />percent wood pellets, and five percent manure. When wet, it makes wonderful compost
<br />materials. Volunteers will be able to separate the herbivore manure, which can go in
<br />the yard debris compost. Volunteers will separate the cat and dog manure, which must go in the garbage.
<br />
<br />EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
<br />October 10, 2013
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