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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.
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<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.
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<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!”
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<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 free
<br />book to keep, courtesy of the Friends of Eugene Public Library, and they each set a
<br />personal reading goal for the summer. Giving youth the power to set their own goals
<br />increases their personal commitment, which strengthens the value of following
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<br />through on something that is important to them.
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<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 magic
<br />and art to science, young people explored a wide variety of topics and cultures. Also, during the summer the Library
<br />continued to offer weekly storytimes; 12 sessions a week, individually designed to meet the pre-literacy developmental
<br />needs of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. More than 6,300 young children and their grown-ups attended storytimes this
<br />summer.
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<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.
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<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.
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<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.
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<br />Exercise with a Different Beat
<br />Zumba, line dancing, and bike riding are just three of the not-so-typical fitness classes
<br />offered by the Recreation Division all year. The division’s land fitness activities are
<br />featured on the Working City program airing on Metro Television throughout October.
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<br />Many of Recreation’s land fitness classes are for participants age 18 or older – when many
<br />become less active. According to the Surgeon General, this inactivity causes millions of
<br />Americans to suffer from life-threatening diseases such as cardiovascular disease, high
<br />blood pressure, adult-onset Type II diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis-related hip fracture, and
<br />obesity. The report also says many health issues can be prevented or the symptoms
<br />improved through increased physical activity. It doesn’t take much to get the benefit – just
<br />30 minutes of brisk walking every day has been shown to have positive effects.
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<br />EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
<br />October 14, 2013
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