Reading flash mob at Norway Memorial Library by Julie DiFazio

“The community should be able to see that teens are good,” Cynthia Riley, Teen Services Coordinator of NML (Norway Memorial Library), said when asked what the Flash Mob reading event was about. The flash mob reading event happened on Wednesday, October 16th on the front lawn of the library. This is the second year the event has taken place.

Riley, who has hosted it for the past two years, believes that reading for pleasure should be emphasised more in the community. The flash mob was planned in the middle of YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Teen Read Week and the theme this year encourages students to seek adventure at their library. It opens doors to go places and to escape.

Even though she’s recently moved from Fisher’s Island, New York, Riley has been very active in the community. She sponsored the Destiny Africa Children’s Choir, which is a group of Ugandan children who share their stories through dancing, and is trying to make a connection with the school. She hopes that the flash mob will continue to be something that happens and that it will make the parents as well as communities see that reading is important.

Riley worked with Brewster Burns, an English teacher at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School (OHCHS) to coordinate the event. It happened to fall on a good day as the sophomores and juniors had to take PSAT’s on the same day so it was a break from testing. While the event only lasted for 30 minutes, the message still stands: reading is fun and exciting and it hopes to boost encouragement for many young, and old, readers.

The Flash Mob is an event that many hope will inspire more kids to read for fun because it can take you places. It can also show the community that teens are well-mannered and polite. There are hopes for a flash mob event every year so that it’ll inspire more kids to read for fun and for the community to also get active in the role of reading for pleasure.

Photo by: Brewster Burns

Students from OHCHS take part in the flash mob reading event on October 16th.