Posted on 28 May 2025 by Chris Brown .
Students in Medicine Hat are riding the road – and the trolley – to reading this spring.
Sunrise Rotary Ride the Road to Reading is one of the most popular activities we do at Medicine Hat Public Library each year. For the past few weeks, Grade 4 students in the city have visited the library to learn about the programs and services we offer.
In past years, library staff would go to schools to speak to classes and then hope that they and their caregivers would come to us. This year students board the Sunshine Trolley, operated by Tourism Medicine Hat, and are brought to the library for the presentation.
“The teachers that have participated have really liked the fact that we're getting the kids down to the library, and I know for the Rotarians, they really like the engagement in the literacy piece,” says Carol Ann Cross-Roen, head of youth services. “By having the kids come into the library, it has more impact than going out to the school and then relying on them to come back to the library.”
Parents or caregivers still need to bring the kids back to the library formally enter the draw. There is a draw for students and parents and while the prizes aren’t confirmed yet Cross-Roen notes Medicine Hat Mall gift cards have received the most enthusiasm from classrooms, but a couple of bigger prizes may be drawn for as well.
Cross-Roen says the Sunshine Trolley operators have been great to work with and the trolley has added a new dimension to the program this year.
“It's such a cool Medicine Hat feature and it was great when the Medicine Hat Tigers bus drove by and we had a trolley full of kids out front to wave to them,” she says about the day the team was leaving the city for Spokane and the WHL Championship Final.
The Ride the Road to Reading program is sponsored again this year by the local Sunrise Rotary Club, which has given $5,000 to help cover costs. The program aims to keep students engaged in the library as they mature, gain independence and start to find other interests. When their class visits us one of our staff members will give them a tour, show them how to use everything here, and what we have to support homework help and school and recreational reading. Cross-Roen has previously said that Grade 4 is a tipping point in a decline of library use and that “kids that have access to more books tend to become better readers and have higher levels of literacy all the way through life whether they pursue higher education or not.”
There is a limited number of spots still available for classes to visit before the end of the school year. Teachers interested in the spots can email [email protected] for more information.
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