If “Every Summer Has a Story,” the story this year is that HISD students who are in the mood for a good book don’t have to find a grown-up to take them to the local library. All they need is a device with Internet access and a few minutes to spare, and they can access more than 5,500 titles for free.

HISD joined forces with the myON website’s parent company earlier this year to offer students unprecedented access to age-appropriate online reading material, and participating children can read unlimited numbers of books at this website through Friday, Aug. 22, the last weekday before school starts.

“The most exciting aspect of this program is its personalization,” says Manager of Library Services Liz Philippi. “Students complete a short assessment the first time they logon to determine their Lexile score and interests, and the website automatically populates a folder with suggested titles at the ‘just right’ reading level.”

More than 13,000 students have already taken advantage of this valuable resource, with Moreno Elementary School leading the pack in both the amount of time students have spent reading (more than 1,059 hours) and the number of books they have read (7,717). A list of the top three schools is updated every Monday at the myON website, for those with a competitive streak.

“As a district, we already have ebooks available,” added Philippi, “but this just contains so many more titles at the elementary level. It gives every student access to books, provided they have an Internet connection, and the personalization lets them focus on reading at the just-right level.”

According to myON representatives, HISD students have accessed 175,918 titles so far, and the cost of buying hard copies of that many books would be more than $395,000.

SPECIAL NOTE TO PARENTS: If your child still hasn’t started his or her summer reading yet, don’t let him or her delay any longer! The first half of summer is already over, and there are only six weeks left until classes resume on Aug. 25.