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.

Previous summer volunteer programs at the library gave teens few options in volunteering. The main focus was on staffing the summer reading table in the children’s department, with some time given to shelving or helping in the library’s drive-through window. The Traditionalists squad takes care of these responsibilities, but teens can also opt into a squad that lets them flex their creative and teaching muscles.^[2]

This summer’s other squads included Book Buds, which helped young kids with reading; Peewee Pollocks, which worked on art projects with two- to three-year-olds; STEM Squad, which provided STEM education to three- to five-year-olds; Kids Create, which worked on crafts with grade-school-aged kids; <code>breakers, which built a website to teach coding to all ages; and Sprout Squad, which tended a garden in the park district and presented at a local farmers market.^[3]

Each squad requires two staff members to lead the teen volunteers, so squad availability changes each summer based on staff availability. Youth Services staff run many of the squads, but staff from Digital Services ran the <code>breakers squad this summer, and previously, staff from the Genealogy Department have run a genealogy squad.^[4]

Together, the staff supervised 232 teens this summer, all of whom were required to apply online and come to the library for an interview. “This gives us an opportunity to make sure they understand what they are getting themselves into and that the squads they chose are really what they want,” said Lynne Priest, grade school programming specialist at Arlington Heights Memorial Library and coordinator of the Summer Volunteer Squad.^[5] All volunteers are accepted. Most volunteers join the Traditionalists and work the full ten-week summer. Each specialized squad has ten to twelve volunteers and runs for eight weeks. During the school year, students can volunteer through the library’s advisory boards for teens and tweens.^[6]  Scheduling for the program is handled by Volgistics, a paid volunteer logistics service, which allows teens to sign up for and cancel their volunteer time slots online and squad staff to set the number of hours their volunteers can work.^[7]

For libraries looking to start a similar program, Priest says to get a feel for the community first and make sure that the kids are there and interested in helping. “The kids that come in can’t wait to work with little kids and help out,” Priest said.^[8]

References

[1] Lynne Priest, Summer Volunteer Squad coordinator, in an e-mail interview with the author, July 27, 2016.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Lynne Priest, Summer Volunteer Squad coordinator, in a phone interview with the author, July 28, 2016.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Lynne Priest in an e-mail interview with the author, July 27, 2016.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Lynne Priest in a phone interview with the author, July 28, 2016.

[8] Ibid.

The post Summer Volunteer Squad Offers Creative Options first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

But not all libraries have the capacity to serve summer meals. This is where Range, a mobile app created by Caravan Studios (a division of TechSoup), comes in to help. Range helps youth and those who work with them find locations where free summer meals are served.

Caravan Studios’ Community-Centered Approach

I spoke with Anna Jaeger, the CTO of Caravan Studios, to learn a bit more about the team’s approach to developing apps. Caravan’s model for understanding and prioritizing community needs is not unlike how many libraries develop programming.

Jaeger describes Caravan’s app development process as a “community-centered approach.” It’s a five-step process that begins with events called generators, where leaders from the nonprofit and library communities discuss what gets in the way of delivering their missions. The Caravan team then listens and identifies ways that technology can intervene to solve or alleviate the problems.

Caravan worked with the California Summer Meals Coalition, particularly with its director, Patrice Chamberlain, who served as an advisor for the app.

“As we start to design, build, and select, we have advisors in the community who are trusted experts who are willing to give us input and help guide our work,” Jaeger said.

Chamberlain introduced Caravan to the California Department of Education and the USDA, who further guided the team’s work. The USDA also provided Caravan with a dataset of summer meal sites across the country.

Screenshot of Range App

How Libraries Can Use Range

Public libraries are starting to play a larger role as a referrer of community health and social services. Many larger public library systems (such as Washington, D.C. and San Francisco) are adding social workers to their employee roster. In a recent TechSoup for Libraries and WebJunction co-hosted webinar, we examined social service referral programs from three libraries of varying sizes. And at ALA 2015, WebJunction showcased its Health Happens in Libraries program along with five library participants at a poster session.

But for libraries that don’t have the budget or staffing to develop a robust social services or meal program, a tool like Range is an easy (and free!) way to get started. One librarian I spoke with said that she posted a flier about Range on her library’s community bulletin board. She said that although they don’t get a lot of questions about social services, there is a high poverty rate in her community. She thought that posting Range’s information could help a family in need if they were too afraid to ask.

What’s Next for Range

One exciting addition to Range, coming in 2015, is that the app will show the locations of nearby public libraries, using library data from IMLS. That’s a whopping 17,000 libraries! Caravan held a crowdfunding campaign last spring to raise funds to also add the days and hours of operation for all of the libraries in the United States (the IMLS dataset doesn’t currently provide that information).

Why add libraries to Range? In the aftermath of the events in Ferguson, MO and in Baltimore, MD, it was evident that libraries are viewed by the community as safe places in times of crisis. But during a normal summer day, the library is also a safe place for a child who isn’t at camp, swimming, or on vacation.

You can download Range today to help youth in your library’s community locate free summer meals. Range is available for Windows Phone, Android, and Apple iOS devices.

The post How Range Can Help Libraries Connect Kids to Summer Meals 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.

For five days in July, the library will be full of girls participating in STEAM projects under the supervision of library staff and 10 middle-school-age counselors-in-training.  Planned events for this summer’s program include a field trip to the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University and a day of learning about space, with a special Skype chat with a scientist from NASA.

Hands-on activities from last year’s weeklong event included Peeps chemistry, building circuits, creating marble runs, 3D printing, and launching rockets. The week also brought guest speakers from nearby colleges to talk about biology, chemistry, computer programming, psychology and law, and technology.

In February, the library held a one-day version of Geek Girl Camp with a Harry Potter House Cup theme. The girls were split into houses named after rad ladies in STEAM fields and they earned points for their houses by performing real life experiments based on Potions class, Quidditch, and the Hogwarts Express.

The camp is partially supported by resources already housed at the Fayetteville Free Library’s Fab Lab and by donated materials including a trebuchet. Funding for other resources and costs comes from the camp fee, which this year is $35 per camper. The library offers four scholarship opportunities for campers who cannot afford the fee.

Geek Girl Camp was created for the 2014 summer reading program at the Fayetteville Free Library to fill a need for STEAM opportunities for elementary-age girls in the area. The FFL’s established STEAM programming, including a Creation Club for middle schoolers and a Little Makers program for 5-8-year-olds, was attended primarily by boys. Since the inception of Geek Girl Camp, more girls have participated in these monthly programs, and the library’s Coding Club is almost evenly split.

“We asked girls on the first day of camp what they wanted to be when they grew up. The answers were a variety of ‘teacher, actress, singer,’ but on Friday we asked the same question and the answers changed to ‘working at Google, pilot, physicist, computer scientist,’ and more. One girl actually said when she grows up she wants to be ‘a computer programmer and an actress on the side,’” said Meredith Levine, Director of Family Engagement at the Fayetteville Free Library.

The camp has encouraged the library to introduce new programming as well, including a two-day Superhero Camp and one-day Self Defense camp this summer, along with other day-long STEAM programming on the local schools’ days off. The counselor-in-training program for this summer’s Geek Girl Camp is also new, providing girls in grades 6-12 an opportunity to gain leadership experience and enjoy the STEAM subjects.

For librarians interested in trying something similar, Levine recommends that they “relentlessly innovate, be brave, and take lots of risks.” The FFL found its resources and experts in the local community and organizations, utilizing services like LinkedIn and Meetup to find people interested in sharing their STEAM knowledge with elementary schoolers. The library also got its first counselors from library staff and teen volunteers who expressed interest in the program.

“It was amazing to watch FFL staff as a whole participate as the library turned into something wonderful for that week,” Levine said.

Sources:

Geek Girl Camp. Accessed May 6, 2015. http://fflib.org/just-for/kids/geek-girl-camp.

Levine, Meredith. “Fayetteville Free Library’s Geek Girl Camp: Creating a Community of Future STEM Leaders.” School Library Journal. Accessed May 6, 2015. http://www.slj.com/2015/01/programs/fayetteville-free-librarys-geek-girl-camp-creating-a-community-of-future-stem-leaders/.

Levine, Meredith. E-mail interview by author. May 11, 2015.

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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.

Summer slump affects library morale. What can you do to improve morale? Is a themed potluck lunch in the staff room a possibility? Can you have funny clothes day? There’s never a bad time for pajama day, Hawaiian shirt day, hat day, or the favorite at our library “Fancy Friday” where you wear feather boas and tiaras all day. Can you get the staff together for a local minor league baseball game or all play miniature golf at the same time on a weekend evening?

Focus on the little things. Can your staff members remember to do one thing each day to move the library’s summer agenda forward? Are they asking people if they are signed up for your library’s summer reading program after they help them find a book or answer a reference question? Does your staff hand out a newsletter or flier that lists all the summer activities, or could they offer to answer people’s questions about the programs? Just because some members of the library staff have been making summer preparations since last December does not mean the patrons have any idea what’s going on at the library. And it may be “old news” to the staff, but it’s brand new and exciting to patrons. Help them out. One quick question and the staff could have a new program attendee or a potential summer reading super reader.

Use your social media presence effectively. One of the best things in the world is the ability to schedule posts on your library’s Facebook page. Once your programs are planned put in your posts. You can schedule them for every day if you want, and you don’t have to worry about them ever again. Your patrons are reminded about what is going on, but your staff doesn’t have to remember to post something every day. It’s best to increase the library’s social media presence now that more patrons are free to read the posts more often.

Leave yourself notes for the next year. There is nothing worse than dreading the physical and emotional fatigue of summer programming, but you can make things easier on your staff. What can you do earlier in the year that isn’t as time sensitive? What can you do at the end of this summer to make you better prepared for next year? It can be something as simple as packing up your supplies in a different way or deciding to order or purchase prizes earlier in the year. How can you spread out responsibilities to more staff so one person isn’t responsible for everything?

Everyone at the library gets tired during the summer because more activities are packed into a shorter amount of time with kids out of school and people on vacations. But with a little planning ahead, there is no reason to have a library staff that looks like zombies because they’ve succumbed to “summer slump.”

The post Summer Slump first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Multiple Audiences

Don’t forget to build multiple entry points into your program to appeal to the wide variety of readers who will participate— families, preschoolers, children, teens, even non-library users.. Programs that provide incentive for time or days spent reading encourage non-readers and struggling readers to stay reading all summer. A flexible program can include extra levels and reading choices for strong readers.

The Role of Themes

For some, having a new theme each year may seem like busy-work, but changing them each year can play an integral role in the program’s success. Different themes appeal to different audiences, creating new opportunities to reach out to new users. A musical theme will appeal to a different group of children than a scientific theme, for example.

New themes also provide new collection marketing opportunities each year. A space theme allows librarians to highlight books on astronomy, while a pet theme highlights animal-related sections. This also creates innovative readers advisory opportunities every summer.

Themes also offer a fresh look to the program, additional marketing opportunities, and chances for collaboration with new partners. A music program allows you to tap the musicians in your community. An animal theme opens the door to a partnership with the local veterinarian or animal shelter.

Incentives

For longtime summer reading program organizers, it is easy to fall into the routine of seeking out as many prizes as you can find. Keep in mind that there are pros and cons to providing prizes. In particular, studies have shown that non-literacy prizes may not be a good fit with summer reading.

To spice up your program, dig into the idea of “gamification” – using the idea of “library as place” as incentive. Use game-related concepts to make library visits fun. Enhance preschoolers’ early learning by adding play spaces. Create intrinsic motivation for children to use the library by offering a passive program or interactive display. This will help encourage both library usage and love of reading.

Preventing the Summer Slide

Summer reading programs are essential in closing the achievement gap and preventing reading level loss. Studies show that participation in a summer reading program raises student reading levels, particularly for at-risk youth. Children living in poverty are more likely to lose reading skills over the summer than children whose families are more affluent. The California Summer Reading Program, provides great background materials and publicity that highlight these studies.

Summer learning loss is cumulative. By the end of 6^th grade, children who lose reading skills over the summer are two years behind their classmates. Children from families with low income are particularly at risk. The nonprofit organization National Summer Learning Association produced this powerful video demonstration of summer learning loss impact.

SRP develops good habits – like using the library to improve reading skills, and love and enthusiasm for reading, especially in multiple formats.  According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, reading just five books over the summer prevents reading loss. Students who participate in SRP score higher in reading achievement tests at the beginning of the next school year than those who do not participate. Teachers have reported that the most dramatic difference between students who participated was in their enthusiasm for reading. The more children read, the better their fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Library Awareness

The next time you are out soliciting incentives for your program, remember to share information about the importance of this program with your donors. Get the message out to your community partners and stakeholders that the summer reading program in your community is more than just a way to encourage library use, it is brilliantly structured fun that keeps kids learning all summer. Class visits are a great opportunity to promote both the program and the library and raise the level of library awareness in your community. Remember to include enough information in your presentations to inform any adults, like teachers and parents, in the room as well as the children.

For more information and resources on gamification, incentives, and purposeful summer reading check out these resources:

Kohn, Alfie. Punished by Rewards: the trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A’s, praise and other bribes. New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993.

Nicholson, Scott. Everyone Plays at the Library. Creating great gaming experiences for all ages. Medford, N.J.: Information Today, Inc., 2010.

Springen, Karen. “How to Create a Knockout Summer Literacy Program.” School Library Journal. March, 17 2014.

The post Summer Reading Program: Purposeful Fun first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

This input spurred us to develop our “Library Outdoors” program, which debuted this past July.We worked with community resources and knowledgeable library staff members to provide a variety of programs on different outdoorsy topics. One of the most popular programs explored the hobby of geocaching, which is basically a GPS scavenger hunt. This program was given by outreach staff from one of the local state parks at two of our locations. Other popular events included:

Nature photography(presented by a staff amateur photographer)
Biking, presented by a local biking organization
Historic walking tours
Wildflower hikes

Programs like these can provide great opportunities for partnerships with your parks and recreation departments. You can also find out if any of your local schools have outdoor recreation studies programs and possibly work with students to provide different activities. Many times residents and patrons may have a special skill or hobby that they might be willing to share with others. Often opportunities present themselves simply by asking your coworkers what their interests are.

Even if you don’t offer any programs on outdoor recreation, you can still maintain lists of recommended websites that have helpful links to local parks and recreation groups or nearby outdoor attractions. These selections are great for locals looking for more information on their area and for visitors who want to enjoy the natural elements of your community. Internet Public Library has some good general websites for the outdoors. You can also feature information about a topic, like Chattanooga Public Library’s Pedal Faster! page, which provides information on bicycling.

Winter sports are also incredibly popular in our area, so hopefully we will be able to have a cold weather and snow edition of Library Outdoors. Play and games have become an integral part of what libraries offer their communities. On a beautiful day, take that play outside!

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