Five Fort Atkinson School District librarians are ready to show that summer vacation doesn’t mean students should step away from a fun and educational activity — reading.

Carolyn Barels, Cathy Daly, Kim Westby, Michelle Folk and Sarah Horwath will take to the streets Wednesday with a new program. Books on Bikes is a summer literacy program run by the Fort Atkinson elementary and middle school librarians, designed to get books to children who might not otherwise get them.

As Sarah Horwath, librarian at Rockwell Elementary School, explained, the books are for all, but the idea is to focus on families who don’t have access to books through the public library or have few at home. The five librarians also deliver free pops, “to keep our readers cool,” Horwath said, along established routes located in neighborhoods where families live and spend time during the summer.

Through an Ace Hardware brat sale, a grant from the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, another grant from the Shopko Foundation, money from the Lend A Hand program at First Congregational Church, and Scott Spoerl, enough money was raised to purchase five bikes and five trailers from Quiet Hut Sports.

The Donors Choose Project also provided bells, flags, a first-aid kit, safety vests and a Yeti Cooler for the bikes. The first stop Wednesday will be in Ralph Park from 9:30 to 10 a.m. with another to follow at Luther Elementary from 10:30 to 11 a.m.

An 8 a.m. to noon stop at the Fort Farmers Market is scheduled for Saturday.

Horwath said the book selection is designed to encourage both a love of reading and maintain the reading skills students picked up during the school year.

“Because it is a district and city-wide program, we hope to reach a broad range of students and families,” Horwath said.

Horwath explained that she and the other librarians went to the annual Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology conference in 2017, and one of the sessions featured the work the Sheboygan Area School District was doing with Books on Bikes, a now-nationwide program first started in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“We instantly called Books on Bikes,” Horwath said. “We loved the idea and thought it was a great fit for the Fort Atkinson community.

“They were nice enough to share all the information, ideas and logos with us to get a chapter started here,” Horwath said.

She and the other librarians said stepping up to get involved to run the program happened because there are many students who either do not have books in their home or cannot get to the public library.

“We have many students who do not read over the summer and experience that ‘summer slide,’” Horwath said.

Folk, who isn’t from Fort Atkinson, said she’s fallen in love with the community and wants to see reading grow.

“I look at it as an opportunity to make connections with students and families outside the school walls and hope we inspire some new readers in the process,” she explained.

Of course, taking off on bikes during the summer does have some other benefits.

“What better way to marry books, exercise and fun than Books on Bikes,” said Barrels. “My hope is that kids will put down their devices, head to the parks, get a great book and develop not only their reading skills, but also incorporate movement into their day.”

The majority of the stops are at community parks, with Horwath adding that the rides are mostly in the morning.

“We hope to miss the hottest parts of the day,” she said. The books will be for students to keep, and include books for all levels, babies to adults.

“We will sort them into different bins so that we can guide people to the books that will be of most interest to them,” Horwath said.

Westby said that she hopes that the program will bring a new excitement to reading for everyone involved.

“It is something different and fun,” she said. “For a student that does not have access or desire to read, they may come over and see us at a park or school and take a book that may interest them.”

A full list of the stops after the first week are:

• June 20 — Barrie Park, 9:30 to 10 a.m., Purdy Elementary, 10:30 to 11 a.m.

• June 27 — Jones Park, 9:30 to 10 a.m., Barrie Elementary, 10:30 to 11 a.m., Barrie Park, 5:15 to 6 p.m.

• July 9 — Jones Park, Cruise Night, 5:45 to 6:30 p.m.

• July 11 — Endl Park, 9:30 to 10 a.m., Rockwell Elementary, 10:30 to 11 a.m.

• July 18 — Bicentennial Park, 9:30 to 10 a.m., Haumerson’s Pond, 10:30 to 11 a.m.

• July 25 — Rock River Park (at the pool), 6:15 to 6:45 p.m., Memorial Park, 7:15 to 7:45 p.m.