Battling the “Summer Slide” and Pandemic Learning Loss

Parents and teachers often notice that students’ learning can plateau or even regress while they’re on an extended break from school. That happened during the Covid-19 pandemic and is common during summer vacation. However, summer learning programs come to the rescue.

“The summer months are the perfect time to reinforce skills [students] learned during the previous year and prepare them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the classroom and in life,” explained Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez. This summer, Chicago Public Libraries offered career and technical education summer camps, as well as a neighborhood scavenger hunt and Maker Mondays.

“Parents have told me that their children’s reading skills often improve over the summer months,” one librarian reported in a survey of rural, suburban, and urban Pennsylvania libraries by Dr. Donna Celano and Dr. Susan B. Neuman. “Teachers have also told us that they can tell when students have participated in the reading club because they don’t have to reteach what [students] learned last year.” Another librarian in the survey commented, “Every story the child hears is a seed planted.”

Expanding a Library’s Reach

Summer programs give libraries the opportunity to connect with other kid-focused organizations. For example, in Celano and Neuman’s survey, 65 percent of respondents reported that they partnered with other community agencies when creating summer learning programs.

Wendy Campbell is the youth services supervisor for the Rowan (North Carolina) Public Library. “While I am thankful for the positive connections with individual families, I am also grateful for the unique opportunity RPL’s summer program brings to partner with local nonprofit [summer] camps,” she told the Salisbury Post. “I am pleased that we partner with these community-minded organizations, and I look forward to working with camp directors and counselors.”

Campbell continued, “This year we partnered with 18 local organizations with weekly educational shows, library visits and book checkouts. One outstanding summer highlight for me is building relationships with campers, learning about their interests and seeing their ready smiles of recognition when we meet weekly.”

Nationwide, 95 percent of public libraries report having at least one summer reading program partner. The most common partners are nonprofit or community-based organizations (64 percent), schools (63 percent), and state library agencies (63 percent).

“Gave My Children Something to Look Forward To”

Summer learning programs are a bright spot for lots of families, but especially for families who are on a budget. One parent told the Great River (Minnesota) Regional Library, “The summer reading program gave my children something to look forward to (trips to the library, choosing new books and videos, reading the books, and knowing they would get a prize at the end of the program).” This year, Great River had a total of 12,973 participants in summer learning programs throughout the regional system, according to Breanne Fruth, GRRL’s communications and development coordinator. GRRL has a total of 84,726 cardholders across six counties, Fruth explained.

People of all ages participated in the “Find Your Voice Community Art Show” at the Northborough Free Library in Massachusetts. The library received 140 submissions and displayed the art throughout the summer. Community members could vote on their favorites in four categories: kids, teens, adult amateur and adult pro. Local ice cream shops and grocery stores donated supplies and small prizes for the art show winners.

“The art show has been such a success that we’ll likely continue to host it annually. Northborough has certainly found their voice through art this summer!” said children’s services librarian Katrina Ireland-Bilodeau.

“Experiences That You Might Not Be Able to Get Anywhere Else”

Special events brought community members into the library and encouraged summertime learning for kids and adults. For example, staffers at the Grand Island (Nebraska) Public Library arranged for an interactive visit with raptors. The event was a resounding success, with children spellbound by the powerful birds of prey.

“We just like to bring in experiences that you might not be able to get anywhere else,” Laura Fentress, a youth and family services librarian at Grand Island, told KSNB-TV.

Danville Township Library in Illinois took their young readers to Gambia through the book One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul. The library’s Ecology Action Center program included reading and upcycling plastic bags into jewelry.

“It turned out to be a wonderful, informative program that kept their attention throughout, and the children proudly adorned themselves with their new creations while they looked for books afterward,” reported circulation specialist Tel Sisco after the event.

North Liberty Library in Iowa provided a wide variety of events. Some were pure fun, such as a foam party for kids at the library’s summer learning program kickoff party. Others were science-focused, such as an Insect Zoo event. And still others were to support basic needs, such as free lunches to ensure food stability.

Kids frolic at a foam party sponsored by Iowa’s North Liberty Library.

Emily O’Sheridan-Tabor, family services librarian at North Liberty, shared the results of her library’s summer learning program. “Eighty-eight percent of parents surveyed reported that their child maintained or increased their reading skills, while 89 percent of those surveyed reported that their child read and used the library more often,” she explained.

Kids weren’t the only ones to benefit. O’Sheridan-Tabor added, “Approximately 75 percent of adults surveyed said that they, themselves, learned something new, enjoyed reading more, and used the library more frequently.”

“Library Kids Are Going to Save the World”

Librarians responded to summer programs with optimism and took a breath before gearing up for autumn.

“I’m now confident that library kids are going to save the world,” Solano County (California) supervising librarian Mychal Threets announced in a viral TikTok video reported on by Upworthy.com. “Libraries and library books bring people together!”

The post Summer Learning Programs Surprise, Delight, and “Save the World” first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Many public libraries have even introduced SRPs for adults, complete with reading logs, and drawings for prizes. As well-intentioned as reward systems are, research has repeatedly demonstrated that activities lose their appeal when they are rewarded. So why are we rewarding children (and adults) for reading?

Events, programs, and exhibits that celebrate language, literature, and imagination are delightful no matter where they take place. It is only natural that public libraries, being a central player in the accessibility of information, should honor the arts and the written word. There is nothing objectionable about storytelling, poetry slams, concerts, and crafting classes, whether offered in person or online. What is objectionable is corrupting the celebration by incorporating a contest and reward component.

Author Alfie Kohn said it well in his book, Punished by Rewards:  “Extrinsic motivators are most dangerous when offered for something we want children to want to do.”1 “If we want children to read more, to read carefully, and to care about reading, then offering them bribes – edible or otherwise – is precisely the wrong way to go about it.”2 Like older people, children are sensitive to situations where others are trying to control them. Rewards rob people of autonomy and the opportunity to freely choose what they do simply for the pleasure of doing it. 

There is nothing wrong with gifting people, but when that gift is contingent upon a behavior or performance of some kind, it ceases to be a gift at all. It becomes a reward and the more desired a reward is, the more a person may come to dislike whatever he or she had to do to get it.3   Many will say “But children love the summer reading programs.” Well, not all of them. If we have to bribe children to read, they are likely assuming that reading must not be very much fun. 

Another common comment, “But our library’s SRP lets the children choose their own rewards, so they are actually rewarding themselves.” Unfortunately, this approach is counterproductive as well. In experiments, children who were allowed to award themselves gold stars for solving puzzles lost interest in the activity the same as children who received the rewards directly from adults.4 Using the word “earn,” rather than “win,” isn’t fooling anyone either. 

“Kids always tell me how much they look forward to our SRP.” Yeah, well, when I was a child, I told adults what they needed to hear, too. Most kids do. Arguing with an adult who knows what is best for you is never worth it. Besides that, rewards and competitions are so much a part of parenting and our educational system that most children don’t know any different.  

Children most in need of academic enrichment over the summer are probably not getting it. But rewarding kids who read well is not helpful either. American culture tends to make everything a contest where you can win (or fail to win) a prize. We are so invested in the belief that rewards will give us the results we want; we refuse to give up on them. Instead, we strive to reward more, better, or differently.5

Is that what we want for children? To make what should be an intrinsically pleasurable activity, just another opportunity to win approval or get something? If it is, then, by all means, let’s keep creating reward systems. Let’s reward children for reading by giving them new paperbacks, baseball game tickets, rubber duckies, refrigerator magnets, or other assorted merchandise from Oriental Trading. 

If we sincerely want to encourage reading, then we should look at the evidence. Data supporting the use of SRP incentives to increase reading performance is sorely lacking.6 However, there is ample evidence to demonstrate the detrimental effects of rewards on just about every endeavor. When rewards are involved, people tend to do the bare minimum to obtain the prize, do it poorly, and enjoy it less.7

Studies indicate that children from low socioeconomic households are the ones who experience the most significant decline in reading skills over the summer. Children from higher socioeconomic homes do not suffer as much loss, and some improve their reading skills. Poor children do not have as much access to books as do wealthier children. Whether that access is books in the home, or books from the library, poor children need more and are not getting it.8 

It saddens me to see all the new books that are left over after summer reading ends – books that were not “earned” by whatever criteria were set by the library. If we librarians want children to read during the summer, we should give children books at the beginning of the summer. 

“What? You mean give them books they haven’t earned by reading for x minutes every day for x many days or read x many pages, or x many books?” 

Yes, precisely.

 If we want children to read books during the summer, we should give them free books to read when school lets out, no strings attached. This practice has rendered excellent results.9 And, no, they will not be required to write book reports about them in the fall.10 

Supporters of summer reading prizes can maintain the rightness of their methods, but what they are trusting is a feeling – a belief. Ample proof to the contrary can be found in databases and books, accessible online or with a library card. 

There is undoubtedly much to lament in this strange pandemic time through which we are living. But we can take advantage of the space and quiet to reflect. Ask ourselves why we are doing what we are doing. 

If the purpose of Summer Reading Programs is to inspire children to love reading, then we should trust them to recognize value when they experience it. We must not cheapen the intangible by requiring readers to keep score to earn or win a reward. By continuing this practice, we are harming our honorable objective.   

References

1. Kohn, Alfie, Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. 1993, 25th Anniversary ed. 2018): 87
2. Ibid., page 66
3. Ibid., page 83.
4. Ibid., page 85.
5. Association for Library Service to Children. (Vol. 15, No.1 2017) A Hook and a Book: Rewards as Motivator in Public Library Summer Reading Programs. ALSC Journal. #6 under Recommendations for Best Practice, accessed May 30, 2020, https://journals.ala.org/index.php/cal/article/view/6236/8124
6. Collaborative Summer Library Program CSLP Summer Reading White Paper – NPC Research, (Dec.29, 2014, Updated July 16, 2015), accessed May 30, 2020, https://www.cslpreads.org/ : 1-2
7. Kohn, Alfie, Punished by Rewards, 85
8. Collaborative Summer Library Program CSLP Summer Reading White Paper: 1-2 
9. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2015, April 25), “Giving Books to Kids Before Summer Break Can Stem Reading Losses.” ScienceDaily, accessed May 27, 2020, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150425215624.htm
10. Kohn, Alfie, “How to Create Nonreaders: Reflections on Motivation, Learning, and Sharing Power” English Journal, (Fall 2010 – vol. 100, no. 1), accessed May 30, 2020,  https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/create-nonreaders/

Further Reading

Paul, Pamela New York Times. “No, Your Kid Shouldn’t Get a Gold Star for Reading.” (2019, Aug. 30), accessed May 30, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/sunday-review/children-reading.html

About the Author

Jane Holt is Manager of High Meadows Library, a branch of Harris County Public Library in Houston, Texas

Contact Jane at Jane.Holt@hcpl.net

Jane is currently reading Learning from the Germans by Susan Nieman

The post Rethinking Summer Reading Rewards first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Reading during the summer provides communities with many benefits. According to the American Library Association, “The benefits to readers in a summer reading program include: encouragement that reading become a lifelong habit, reluctant readers can be drawn in by the activities, reading over the summer helps children keep their skills up, and the program can generate interest in the library and books.”[1]

Statistics and research have proven time and again that those who participate in summer reading programs benefit tremendously from a literacy standpoint and children do not fall behind by just kicking back at home all summer. For students who may be struggling during the school year, research has shown “one advantage of public library summer reading programs is that they are not located in school buildings, which helps reduce the negative perception about summer learning for students who are struggling.”[2]

But the most important reason summer reading programs are so important and effective are for the opportunities they provide to families who are impoverished or held at a disadvantage for numerous reasons. “Numerous studies have shown that reading over the summer prevents ‘summer reading loss.’ Children living in poverty are more likely to lose reading skills over the summer than children whose families are more affluent. Some researchers estimate 50-67% of the achievement gap, for children living in poverty and for children of color, is the result of summer reading loss.”[3] Public library summer reading programs help bridge those gaps for families who are not as fortunate.

This is why it is important for libraries and librarians to get out into the community and promote their summer programming. This reminds community members that instead of having their kids watch television all summer, they can be reading and participating in library programming that will advance them in their studies and literacy. So if you have not signed your kiddos up for the summer reading program at your local public library, please do so and help them participate in as many programs throughout the summer.

References

[1] American Library Association. “Summer Reading Programs: Benefits,” Last updated May 15, 2017. http://libguides.ala.org/summer-reading/benefits. May 30, 2017.

[2] “Why Public Library Summer Reading Programs Are Important.” http://libraries.idaho.gov/files/SRPResearchPoints2015.pdf. May 30, 2017.

[3] Ibid.

The post Build a Better World: Collaborative Summer Reading Program 2017 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Each summer, school libraries renovated by the Baltimore Library Project stay open for six weeks in the summer to offer drop-in programming to students from around the city. This programming is provided by staff and volunteers from MOST as well as community partners including Young Audiences Maryland, the Maryland Zoo, and Code in the Schools, among others.[1] During the six-week program, the libraries offer programming Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. On an average day, students show up at nine for a free breakfast from the Summer Food Service Program,[2] read aloud in the library until the first workshop of the day, followed by free lunch, recess, and a second workshop or other activity in the afternoon. The average program attendance this year was twenty-one students per day per location, with a wide range of attendance across the locations.[3]

In addition to the daily workshops and activities, participants in SummerREADS work on a long-term project at each library location. This year’s project was to create an Olympic stadium out of found materials. “We kept the description vague so students could develop, design, and be creative,” said Paul Mincarelli, SummerREADS program manager at MOST. “We ended up with ten very unique, different visions for what a stadium should include.”[4]

The libraries also play host to a small summer reading program. Students can log fifteen minutes a day of reading to earn prizes, and the schools give out ten self-selected books to all students, not just SummerREADS participants, through a grant from the Abell Foundation.[5]

Staffing SummerREADS is the hardest element to handle, said Mincarelli. MOST tries to keep the student-adult ratio at 15:1, so each of the ten libraries is staffed by the school’s librarian and two AmeriCorps counselors and supplemented by Foster Grandparents where needed. The AmeriCorps staff manages the daily programming, and the school librarian is on hand to operate the library, check out books, and be the connection between the schools and the students that participate.[6]  At Harford Heights Elementary School, librarian Hope Kimbrow also recruited student and parent volunteers to lead groups of students during activities.[7]

Although Baltimore is lucky enough to have support from big-name community partners, other libraries can and do put on similar programming during the summer. “What we’re doing is a model of what libraries can do,” said Mincarelli. “You don’t need a philanthropic arm to renovate libraries to do this.”[8]

And the program does more than just keep kids learning over the summer. “This program provides a safe haven for students. Students know they can come to a welcoming environment where they can be provide a fun, loving, and happy learning environment,” said Kimbrow.[9]

References

[1] Paul Mincarelli, SummerREADS program manager at MOST, in a phone interview with the author, August 19, 2016.

[2] Paul Mincarelli, “In Baltimore, The Library Is Open,” Huffington Post, July 22, 2016.

[3] Paul Mincarelli, SummerREADS program manager at MOST, in a phone interview with the author, August 19, 2016.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Hope Kimbrow, Library Media Specialist at Harford Heights Elementary School, in an email interview with the author, August 31, 2016

[8] Paul Mincarelli, SummerREADS program manager at MOST, in a phone interview with the author, August 19, 2016.

[9] Hope Kimbrow, Library Media Specialist at Harford Heights Elementary School, in an email interview with the author, August 31, 2016

The post School Libraries in Baltimore Don’t Take a Summer Vacation first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Created by Jordan Lloyd Bookey and her husband, Felix Brandon Lloyd, Beanstack is a specialized service for libraries and their patrons that offers personalized book recommendations and specific tools for learning. Beanstack librarians as well as the specific library system’s librarians work together to recommend books for young readers based on the young person’s individual interests. These specialized recommendations not only make reading enjoyable for the children, but also help build literacy at an early age.

“Beanstack is a web application, and it is mobile optimized,” says Bookey. “That means it is very easy to use on your phone, as we build first for the mobile experience. We consider it a family engagement tool, helping to better connect libraries and families. By signing up, families will receive personalized recommendations for their kids, along with recommended events and more. We know that librarians themselves are the best answer—nothing beats a librarian at readers’ advisory! Our goal is to help people begin and continue their discovery process of all the amazing things their library/librarians have to offer.” All recommendations are titles already in your library’s specific catalog.

The system has learning activities, reading logs, and an engaging badge system to entice young readers to not only read but also continue reading.

This product is helpful on its own but can be paired with a number of your own library system’s programs. “Beanstack has worked great with the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program and we’re excited to see how parents use the product in other ways,” says Garrett Hungerford, assistant director of Salem-South Lyon District Library in Michigan. Many systems have promoted it along with their summer reading programs. Beanstack also sends out a weekly reminder to visit your library for more information from librarians, and thus becomes a community engagement tool, as well. “It helps engage local families by providing personalized recommendations, tools for earning incentives, and content curated by librarians. 43% of Beanstack users do not have a library card when signing up. The flagship summer reading client experienced a 25% increase in registrations and completions,” says Bookey.

Beanstack has now partnered with over fifty public libraries throughout the United States and even into Canada. A video demonstrating how Beanstack can be partnered with your summer reading program can be seen here.

The post Beanstack: A Readers’ Advisory Tool for Young Readers first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Although Summer Reading is an exciting, rewarding time for librarians, it can also be exhausting. When I worked in youth services, the end of the school year meant a transition from running four or five programs a week to upwards of three or four a day with only one extra set of hands to help me. My first summer running our SRP entirely by myself was incredibly gratifying – we saw three times the community participation than we had the year before – but when August hit, I was drained. When that happens, it’s easy to find yourself rethinking your commitment to the profession.

Since it is rarely an option to scale back on offerings for any age group during this time, what’s a librarian to do? Don’t despair; summer burnout is not a necessity! Here are some tips to coping:

• Plan some time away from the library when SRP winds down. Even if it’s just a long weekend, knowing you’ll have time to recharge will serve as positive motivation throughout the summer. Can’t take time then? There were a few years when I took a trip two or three weeks before the summer craziness started. Even that allowed me to go into the busy season with a clearer mind.
• Focus on what’s going right. It’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae or stress over an initiative gone poorly. Take a tip from Elsa and let it go, shifting your perspective to the good. I still have a thank you letter I received from one of our five year-old regulars at the end of last summer hanging in my office. Did you receive a compliment from a board member or elected official for one of your summer initiatives? Bask in that!
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Even if your library does not have adequate staffing to help you with everything you have to do, enlisting a volunteer can help ease your workload. In my community, high school and college students are often looking for community service hours throughout the summer, and even some parents are willing to pitch in while their kids are at camp.
• Don’t forget about your life outside work. Sure, you may be putting in more hours over the summer, but make time outside the office every day to do something you enjoy. For me, it’s getting up a little earlier to run. Set aside time after work to unwind with friends and family.

What are your favorite tips for avoiding the summer burnout?

The post KEEP CALM AND LIBRARY ON: Avoiding Summer Burnout first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Summer Reading Club 2015 – Read to the Rhythm from Vernon Area Public Library on Vimeo.

The video itself took approximately two months to make, from the initial concept to the finished product. Three Youth Services Librarians, including myself, were on the SRC promotional video team and we decided that a current hit would be a good way to engage all ages. Once we picked “Uptown Funk,” we had to write the lyrics! Youth Services Librarians are known for their creativity and silliness, and our crew is no different. We knew what main points we wanted to cover and filled in the lyrics to go with the original melody. We made sure to emphasize that it really was for all ages. We then recorded our lyrics on GarageBand and used a karaoke version of “Uptown Funk” as the main track.

At this point, it was time to storyboard, which turns out to be the most important element of making a great, professional-looking video. It’s also a great way to keep the filming process on track. You can google “storyboard template” for a variety of free templates. We had an idea of how to visualize the video based off our lyrics and then combined moments similar to the original music video. We used the library’s camera, a tripod, and iMovie and GarageBand on our library’s Macbooks to do the film and soundtrack editing. We didn’t use anything that most public libraries wouldn’t already have on hand!

For more creative shots, we used duct tape and taped our camera to a library cart for stability. We also recorded more footage than we needed in order to ensure that we had enough material to work with. How did we convince other departments to participate? By gently reminding them that “it’s for the children” and by bringing donuts for all participants as friendly bribery. We filmed for an hour before the library opened one morning, and for an hour after the library closed one night, with all participating staff paid for their time (something we had discussed with all of our department heads ahead of time).

One caveat of making a quality music track and music video is that you do need to have at least one person on your team who is comfortable working with or learning to work with iMovie and GarageBand. If no one on your library’s staff is familiar with this technology, you can use lynda.com for some training if your library has it available, or search on YouTube for instructions. Once you know the basics, you’re ready to make a promotional video that engages the library staff and your patrons. Plan ahead and you’ll have a rollicking start to next year’s Summer Reading Club!

The post Summer Reading Club Promotional Videos first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Bacon cites her experiences serving as a branch manager in a Minnesota consolidated regional library system as foundational to her abilities to move her Montana library forward. “Great River Regional Library—with all of its libraries—has an amazing support system, from technology to marketing to collection to policies for all libraries.” It is through this network that she developed the skills she needed to lead in a director role. She also credits her experience serving on a school board as essential in learning the ins and outs of working with a library board.

Bacon shares the credit for her library’s rags to riches story with community partners and her staff. A key to the library’s turnaround was the library staff. Bacon says, “I put skilled people around me. Two received their master in library science degrees within the last five years. I consider myself a director, someone who orchestrates and taps staff for their new skills. That’s really my role, to be the encourager and leader.” Many of the new programs and services she added to BCL came through collaboration, such as biweekly Book­a­Tech sessions offered by the BCL public services librarian.

Bacon advises librarians to be an active member of their library communities. “We all face the same challenges. We are so busy with limited staffing and the budget. It is difficult to get out. Networking and supporting your community are stepping stones.” This community involvement has resulted in a larger network of support for her library, allowing them to become more innovative. It was by advocating for an operating levy and pursuing grant funding that Bacon was able to balance the library’s budget and restore its reserves.

Along with the library’s foundation, Bacon has made a concerted effort to find grant money to pursue new projects. For example, the library recently received 3­D printers through competitive grant funding. Educational classes and community outreach will be included as part of this grant project. She has also retained grants from everything to summer reading program supplies to OverDrive services. Bacon looks for local organizations that have a similar mission as the library and organizations that want to give back to the Belgrade community. Her goal is to for the library to be an equalizer between all ages and incomes.

“The library is more relevant than it’s ever been. We have become the common cultural community center for our community,” she says.

Further information

• The Loaves and Fishes Library | Best Small Library in America 2015
• Belgrade Community Library

Photo:
Back row from left to right – Kathleen Godfrey, Vanetta Montoya
Front row from left to right – Keiley McGregor, Gale Bacon, Rebekah Kamp, Katie Ramstead

The post Lessons from 2015’s Best Small Library in America first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Many libraries are using the Illinois Reading Enrichment and Development program (iREAD), which has the a musical theme for 2015, “Read to the Rhythm.” iREAD originated in 1982 in Illinois as a statewide collaboration with the goal of providing low cost, high quality summer reading resources for libraries. Since then, libraries in several other states, including California and Minnesota, have taken advantage of the program.

Illinois Library Association’s iREAD Committee showcased the 2015 theme at their conference last fall. The presentation included a myriad of suggestions for every age group, from baby to adult. The youngest audiences will enjoy musical story times, which will also tie in nicely with the early literacy skill, “sing.” Offerings for school age children can range from STEM topics, like the science of sound, to exploring new cultures. Dance lessons, lip synching, finish the lyrics, and “Name That Tune” contests could appeal to a wide variety of ages from tweens and teens to adults.

Librarians are sharing their great display, craft, and program ideas on the iREAD Pinterest page. The theme lends itself well to musical makerspaces— making homemade musical instruments like harmonicas, drums, or maracas. Musical craft ideas abound on this board as well. Ideas we’ll be using at my library, Great River Regional Library in Minnesota, include passive programs like guess the nursery rhyme, guess the animated movie from a song, “Mad Lib” lyrics, and a musical genre guessing game.

iRead is also currently highlighting artwork from children’s illustrator Don Tate. Tate’s illustrations in Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite are perfectly in tune with the iREAD musical theme. Tate is a champion for diversity in children’s literature and is also one of the founders of the blog The Brown Bookshelf , which is designed to raise awareness of African-American writing for young readers. He also recently joined the #WeNeedDiverseBooks team.

Furthermore, iRead has resources for strengthening your summer reading program. The California Library Association partnered with iREAD in 2013 and brought along resources on developing outcome-based measurements for summer reading programs. California has adopted two statewide summer reading outcomes: “Children belong to a community of readers” and “Underserved community members participate in the summer reading program.” Resources for adapting these outcomes or creating outcome-based measurements are included in the iREAD manual. It also includes reproducible resources about the summer slide and why summer reading programs are important.

It’s not too late to join the festivities! The iRead  program catalog is available at ireadprogram.org.

Resources

Mitnick, Eva. “CA Librarians Gear Up For Summer with iREAD’s Read to the Rhythm Programming.” School Library Journal.  November 19, 2014.

The post Librarians Getting Ready to Read with the Rhythm first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Always ask everyone before a program if they need to use the bathroom. You can have a cute way to ask, or you can make a grand announcement. However, once one child in your program announces that he or she has to “go potty,” then everyone will need to go. And even IF you have every child’s parent take him or her to the bathroom before a program, someone will still have to use the potty again. And by the way, if you are working with toddlers, summer is potty training season! There will be “an accident” somewhere in the library each summer. We hope for your sake it’s liquid and not solid!

Band-Aids are contagious. This is a fact! The need for a band-aid in a program spreads faster than the common cold virus! Inevitably someone will get a paper cut on a craft or have a legitimate reason for needing a bandage of some kind. However, once one child gets a band-aid, most of the rest of your group will show you scabs that need a band-aid or a microscopic wound that would feel much better with a band-aid on it. And whatever you do, don’t get anything other than boring beige band-aids. If you have character or colored band-aids, the contagion spreads farther and faster!

Shoe tying is not a required skill in school anymore. We hope that in your local school district this is not true. But “back in the old days” you couldn’t leave kindergarten without learning how to tie your shoes. Not so anymore. We tie a lot of shoes during programs. We’ve laced boots, double and triple knotted sneakers, and tried to teach some of our friends the “bunny ears” method of shoe tying. No matter what, there is always an untied shoe that must be addressed! Also, tied shoes are a good way to keep down the legitimate need for band-aids!

Even if you think you’ve planned for every allergy and food related issue, there will be a new one you never thought of! For us it was an allergic reaction to cherries. If the child touched cherries or something with cherry juice in it, he would have a violent reaction similar to anaphylaxis. So much for the vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free/peanut-free awesome activity we were doing! But all ended well, and no one needed a trip to the ER.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and hopefully these things made you smile. We hope if you keep these ideas in mind, your summer programming will go much more smoothly. Have fun!

The post Preparing for Summer Reading Programming…What Everyone Assumes You Know Already first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

● April 8 – Effective school outreach
● May 2 – Building summer learning into existing reading programs
● May 27 – Tips for marketing to teens

Log onto the website each of these dates to connect with library staff and educators from around the country on these important topics. These collaborative conversations will help librarians share ideas and best practices to enhance SRP success. The discussions will take place all day, so log in when it’s convenient to share your ideas and learn from others. YALSA will also be giving away prizes after each of the remaining three sessions.

Also of interest in the Learning resources area is a STEM toolkit and booklist. If you haven’t yet incorporated math and science elements into your programming, or if you’re looking for ideas to fit with your SRP’s science theme, these resources are a great place to start.

The Promotion tab consists of marketing tips to help spread the word about your library’s SRP. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find reproducible, customizable fliers, and a plethora of YALSA-created handouts and presentations for outreach events and school visits.

For more information about this initiative: Join YALSA in its 100 Days till Summer Countdown

The post Countdown to Summer with YALSA first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

• Know your community. We have a number of younger parents, and quite of few of them have tattoos. We specifically asked the tattoo parlor in town if they would give us a donation for summer reading “since many of our patrons are inked,” and they did!
• Get a few prizes that have great PR potential. We have a husband and wife who have done programs at the library on ghost hunting. They agreed to let two people stay overnight with them at the library with all their equipment to analyze the library’s spirits. One of our local businesses buys season tickets to the Cleveland Indians (and these are really nice seats) and gives pairs of tickets to organizations to use as prizes. Both are great to publicize in the community.
• Thematic prizes are not for kids only. You’ve gotten prizes that match your children’s summer reading theme for years. How about local businesses whose services match your theme? This year our library is doing a food theme, and our local meat market gave us a gift certificate.
• Collect prizes all year round. Some of our most popular prizes turned out to be clearance items purchased at the end of “seasons” at dollar stores or Wal-mart. Purses and totebags seem to be really popular and you can find great ones in clearance areas.
• Redeem points from loyalty programs. We purchase video games from our local Game Stop. We turned in our points from their customer loyalty program to get some amazing “gamer themed” prizes.
• Get advice from the library staff. Ask everyone…reference, circulation, technical services, and even your maintenance man about what are popular, interesting, or new businesses in town. Keep adding new places to your “ask” list each year. We have gotten a good number of donations from new businesses that have been looking for ways to get their name out in the community.
• Buy gift cards. While you always want to get gift cards or certificates donated from local businesses, if you have money to spend, get gift cards to franchises in your area—especially coffee places, gas stations, and grocery stores. For us, these are our most popular prizes.
• Visit local businesses in person. It’s a lot harder to turn someone down in person than it is over the phone. Always leave an explanatory letter about summer reading, even if they give a verbal commitment. The letter should be sure to include contact information, library hours, and your library’s Tax ID number.

Shout out and thanks to great grandmother and co-worker, Vivian Volante. She let us tell everyone we visited to promote summer reading, kids, teens, and adults about “our friend the great-grandmother who was going to read tons of books and try to win our tattoo gift certificate.” The interesting thing is, a number of other patrons want that prize as well! Who will get it?

The post Desperately Seeking Summer Reading Prizes first appeared on Public Libraries Online.