Librarian pledges purple hair to promote reading

The teen librarian for the Oak Harbor Library is challenging teens to read at least 50,000 combined pages this summer, and in turn, she’s willing change her hair color from brunette to purple.

The teen librarian for the Oak Harbor Library is challenging teens to read at least 50,000 combined pages this summer, and in turn, she’s willing change her hair color from brunette to purple.

“I bought hair dye a while ago for my school visits, so they’d know I was serious,” Librarian Anne Murphy said.

The Teen Summer Reading Program is part of the Sno-Isle libraries system. Teen must submit book reviews online at www.sno-isle.org and will qualify to win prizes.

In Oak Harbor, four $20 gift certificates will be handed out, and teens that submit at least eight reviews will qualify for the grand prize drawing of an Ipod Shuffle.

“We’re looking for thoughtful reviews. Maybe a sentence about what the book is about, what they liked or disliked about it and if they’d recommend it,” Murphy said.

All review entries will qualify for the Sno-Isle grand prize of an ACER Extensa laptop computer. The more entries people submit, the greater chance they have to win.

So far, about 300 reviews were submitted online from Oak Harbor. Murphy said they’re about at the halfway mark for the total of combined pages read.

Murphy said the hair dye is semi-permanent and would last for two to three months.

“Purple is my favorite color,” she said.

The challenge began June 9 and will finish Aug. 31.