ERVING — Eight-year-old Jameson Betters will be sitting benchside by the Boston Bruins on Dec. 20 as one of the grand prize winners of the Bruins summer reading program.
Betters is one of a select group of young people to receive Boston Bruins prizes for joining the Erving Public Library’s summer reading program. Each summer the library participates in the statewide program.
Betters will be attending the game when the Bruins face off with the Anaheim Ducks. He will get to sit on the Bruins bench during pregame warm-ups.
Attending with Betters will be the great grandson of a former hockey star, Eddie Shore.
Shore was a defenseman who played from 1926 until 1940 and was inducted into the National Hockey League Hall of Fame in 1947. His No. 2 jersey is retired by the Boston Bruins and is displayed at the TD Gardens home of the Bruins.
The Shores are friends of the Betters.
Along with Eddie Shore III, Betters will share this experience with his grandfathers Gary Betters and Dave Payant and family friend Eric Semb.
Erving Library Assistant Jean Daley said the library is grateful for the chance to win a prize.
“We’re very grateful to the Bruins and everyone that allows us to give out such a great surprise,” Daley said. “The Massachusetts Library Board of Commissioners drew us randomly and then we randomly drew Jameson — it was really the luck of the draw.”
She added that the library hosts reading programs throughout the year for various age groups.
The Bruins first teamed up with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System in 2009. The organizations work with libraries across the state to make reading a part of the summer for all ages.
Bruins players Tuukka Rask, Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand and others helped libraries develop a collection of favorite books of the Boston Bruins that is available on ReadsinMA.org, a recommended reading list that includes librarians’ picks for the best hockey books.
Library Director Barbara Friedman said this is the second time a winner from Erving was selected.
“It doesn’t happen often, but it’s wonderful that the Bruins want to inspire children to read,” Friedman said. “The kids love seeing the Bruins reading posters every summer and they need to know that sports and reading go together. No one succeeds without reading.”
On average more than 350,000 people participated in statewide summer reading program. Massachusetts has offered statewide online summer reading programs since 2007. Participants register, write book reviews, set goals and track their progress online. Massachusetts was the first state in the country to offer such a program.
To learn more about the benefits of summer reading, visit ReadsinMA.org. The Summer Library Program is made possible through federal funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.