News Release

The Boston Bruins have once again teamed up with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC), the Massachusetts Library System (MLS) and local libraries to encourage kids and teens to keep reading over the summer.

Summer reading is one of the best ways to help children and teens maintain skills they’ve learned over the academic year and grow towards the skills required for the next school year. To encourage participation, the Bruins (mascot Blades and other VIPs) are making special library visits to award Boston Bruins Reading Rinks to libraries in Bellingham, Ipswich, Leominster, Southbridge and Stoughton. The rinks feature Bruins-themed hockey furniture and provide a comfortable space for young readers and their families to read together, do a craft, or take part in a library program. The libraries were selected through a grant process which drew applications from across the state.  In addition, Bruins mascot Blades will make visits to Jones Library in Amherst and Ashland Public Library. 

The Bruins kicked off summer reading with a special event at Tewksbury Public Library and Blades recently visited the Codman Square Branch of the Boston Public Library where he was joined by MBLC Commissioner Katherine Dibble and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Click here for photos.

The Bruins have been active partners and advocates for reading and literacy since 2009 when they joined the MBLC and MLS to create “When you read, you score!” Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic and other Bruins players helped develop Favorite Books of the Boston Bruins, a recommended reads list, to encourage children and teens to read a variety of books over the summer. “The kids really enjoy picking up a book and seeing that it was recommended by one of the Bruins players. It inspires them to want to read it themselves,” said one librarian. The Bruins also offer prizes for children and teens selected from a pool of candidates who demonstrate outstanding reading involvement. Among the prizes is the opportunity to greet members of the Boston Bruins as they get ready to take the ice during a Bruins home game.

Past winners of Boston Bruins Reading Rinks include libraries in Athol, Bourne, Chicopee, Framingham, Quincy, Salisbury, Newbury, South Hadley, Woburn, Middleborough, Plainville, and Manchester-by-the Sea.

Massachusetts has offered statewide online summer reading programs since 2007. Participants register, write book reviews, set goals, and track their progress online. Massachusetts was the first state in the country to offer such a program.  Last summer over 300,000 children, teens, and adults participated summer reading programming across the Commonwealth.