What do pink ponies and summer reading have in common? Waterloo Public Library has the answer

The siren song of screens can be a hard one for young people to break during summer vacation, but a programmer at the Waterloo Public Library is hoping that, with the help of Chappell Roan, she can do just that.

Grace Carruthers reworked the lyrics to Roan's hit song Pink Pony Club to make it all about summer reading.

For example, the lyric, "God, what have you done? You're a pink pony girl and you dance at the club" became, "We'll travel the world, one page at a time, when you visit the library."

Carruthers says she was inspired by "a love of Chappell Roan and a love of literacy."

"For several years the Waterloo Public Library has done an anthem to celebrate the start of the summer reading club and this year it fell on me. I was lucky enough to get to do it and so I did some very quick word association between summer reading club and Pink Pony Club and what what you see is the result," she said. 

Carruthers didn't just do one verse and the chorus. She reworked the entire song and made a music video, too.

"We got to rope in several of the staff to participate, which was so much fun. Even Youniece the Unicorn made an appearance, which is always a good time," Carruthers said.

"To be able to dance around the library in a fringy outfit in a space that so many people think is quiet and reserved was just such a joy for me."

WATCH | Waterloo Public Library's video for their summer reading club featuring Grace Carruthers:

Summer reading helps halt summer slide

While the video and song are a lot of fun, the reason behind it is a serious one, says Cathleen Getchell, who is the library's programs and partnerships supervisor.

Getchell says the summer reading slide is real and programs like summer reading clubs aim to curb it.

"There's evidence that over those two months of summer break that some of our learning regresses. So this is really to keep kids reading, and not just for school, but for fun," she said, adding she wants to foster a "love of literacy, this love of reading."

Scholastic, a Canadian publisher and distributor of children's books and educational materials, released the Kids and Family Reading Report Canadian Edition in 2017 that focused on summer reading.

The survey of 1,939 parents and children found only 31 per cent of parents at that time were aware of the "summer slide" although it also found 84 per cent of the children aged six to 17 who were surveyed agreed that reading books during the summer would help them in the fall when they returned to school.

Goal is to help young readers 'go on adventures'

Getchell says everyone at the library is thrilled with the work Carruthers did on the song and video.

"It was just incredible. So what I had hoped is that, in a fun way that, it would get news about summer reading club out to the kids and bring them in to pick their favourite books and enjoy reading over the summer. And what Grace did with that is just so creative and so exceptionally talented," she said.

Ultimately, they're hoping it works and that young people don't see reading as a task.

Getchell says she wants children and teens to "really fall in love" with reading so they can "enter into those stories, that they're able to see themselves in stories, that they're able to learn and go on adventures."

As for her next hit, Carruthers says she's not sure what song she'll sing.

"I'm just waiting for suggestions. Waiting for inspiration to strike, I suppose," she said.

Summer reading programs are offered at all the local libraries, including Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, Guelph and Region of Waterloo. Sign up is free and at the front desk.