During the Read for the Record competition, Lantana Police Chief Sean Scheller belts out a tune in the library as part of a mini opera, to the amusement of library staffer Jennifer Sweeten (left) and Director Kristine Kreidler. Photo provided
By Mary Thurwachter
For the second consecutive year, Lantana has won first place among small municipalities in the Read for the Record competition sponsored by the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County.
The book selection, Piper Chen Sings by Phillipa Soo and Maris Pasquale Doran and illustrated by Qin Leng, is a story about a young girl who loves to express herself through singing but is struck with self-doubt and nervousness when asked to perform solo in front of an audience.
Kristine Kreidler, Lantana’s library director, came up with a creative way to tell the story by recruiting some of the town’s top leaders to stage a mini opera for the children in the library.
Using a book called A Soup Opera by Jim Gill, she had Police Chief Sean Scheller, Mayor Karen Lythgoe and Town Manager Brian Raducci improvise with her, belting out their parts as opera singers. The performances were caught on video and greeted with laughter when the animated performances were played during the Dec. 9 Town Council meeting.
The children at the library loved the show, Kreidler told council members.
“The kids in the audience couldn’t stop talking about it and asked for it again the next time we saw them,” Kreidler said. “We overheard one boy telling his dad excitedly how funny it was that the chief and mayor were actually singing with it (the book) in real life.”
Kristin Calder, CEO of the Literacy Coalition, mentioned the chief’s and mayor’s singing in opera voices as part of Lantana’s victory when she announced the winners. Read for the Record was held in schools and libraries through the county on Oct. 24.
Winners were chosen based on a combination of how many children were read to, creative events on the day of the program, and fun/inventive marketing.
The town promoted Read for the Record with videos across various platforms, a StoryWalk in the Town Hall breezeway displaying Piper Chen Sings, allowing residents to read the book, and two library events.
Lantana recruited 41 volunteer readers and read to 2,488 children at 21 sites.
The Village of Wellington was the winner of the large municipality category, and the Village of Palm Springs was the winner in mid-size municipalities.
Lantana won bragging rights and a large basket of children’s books.
The town won previously in 2013, 2015-2019, came in second when COVID came around in 2020, and started winning again in 2023.
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