Summer Reading

Across the

South SuburbsCLASS January 25, 2016

Really, who wants to talk about Summer?

Why Summer Reading?

Why not reading year long?

Why we invest financial & human resources

creating summer reading programs?

Do our programs really have an impact?

Research-Dominican Study

Studies looking into

Cumulative reading loss during the summer

Summer Slide

No difference on reading levels during the

school year

High income students read & have access to

more books during the summer

Disadvantaged students experience loss

Reading over summer improves test scores*

Summer Loss or Summer Slide

Importance of learning

outside classroom

“one place that offers all

children, rich or poor,

equal access to

information is the local

public library”

Donna Celano & Susan B. Neuman, “When Schools

Close, the Gap Grows” Dec. 2008.

Conclusions

Students who

participated in a

Summer Reading

program scored

higher and did not

experience summer

reading loss

Started school ready to

learn

Improved scores

Motivated to read

Confident in classroom

Read beyond what

was required

Reading is important

What does that mean for us?

We make a difference

Foster a love for recreational reading

We provide access to all students

What we need to do?

Keep doing what we are doing

Partnerships with schools~ important role of Public Library

Educate parents on the value of our programs

Programming Committee

Theory & studies are

great

We want the

“day to day”

What does Summer

Reading look like?

Survey on Summer Reading Trends

Theme or not theme

When does your summer start?

Programming?

What do you track? How?

Goal setting

Prizes….

ALSC Blog “Survey on Summer

Reading Trends” November 2015

Succeses

Success

Lessons learned

Take a week off in the middle (July 4th)

Let people set their own reading goals

Be inclusive on your naming

Connect with literacy & reading

CLASS Survey~Summer Reading Across the

South Suburbs

Libraries across south suburbs

Children Librarians at different levels

Survey went to 35

Total participation 14

Size Populations

Range from 2500 to

57000

From Thornton to

Orland Park

Across towns or

boundaries

Schools

From 1 to 15 schools

From 220 kids to 12,000 children

Marketing

The majority of us conduct schools visits

Middle of May

Time? Depends on the school & their scheduling

Marketing Tools We use a variety of

methods

Flyers, flyers, flyers

Bookmarks

Newsletters

Websites & Social

Media

Interesting Findings Our smallest serving

library does visit their

One school

Do you think school

visits make a

difference?

Staffing….the troops

Department Size

Staffing Questions

How do you manage your volunteers?

For small departments, do other staff

members or director help out during SR?

SR Budget

The majority of us use lines within our general budgets

Range from $500-$7000

Distinction between YA & Youth

Donations

Where do you get

your money from?

Do you do “beg”

letters?

Do you have one big

donor?

Do your “Friends”

group help?

Donations from local

vendors

What is your main

funding source?

SR Philosophy Make READING Fun

Provide access to all

Develop lifelong learners & library users

Engage with us all year long

To create a program that is fun and engaging that encourages a love of reading for recreational purposes.

Keep kids reading to help prevent summer slide!

Promote the books and get the kids to read anything they are interested in.

SR Philosophy

We recognize the importance of Summer

Reading as a way to fight Summer Slide, but

our most important goal is to encourage

children and parents to visit the Library and

have positive Library experiences, to create

and maintain relationships with the Library

that last after Summer Reading is over.

“Green Hills PL”

To Theme or Not to Theme

Iread 65%

CSLP 30%

Other 5%

Other themes

Palos Heights~ inclusive programs regarding

of theme. Found easier to create their own

theme & programming

Others?

Registration

In Person 55%

Online 40%

Evanced

Other 5%

Hybrid of in-person recorded into MS Access Databases

Registration Questions

In Person

How do you manage

paperwork?

Statistics?

Do you required

library card #?

Online

Challenges?

Technology access?

Patron learning

curve?

Participation

Participation

numbers?

Up

Down

Why?

Recording Progress

Minutes 6

Books 10

Other

Weekly check-ins/

No minutes or books

Paper Logs 12

Online systems 5

Regular Programming

Regular programs remain strong

Special SR Programming

All of us hold special programs for Summer

Reading- enternainers, theme oriented

storytimes, family fun events

Do special programs bring extra people?

Increased participation?

Award/Prizes Yes! We reward your

reading

Pre-set goals

Based on check-ins

Weekly participation

Program attendance

Prizes

We give

Books

Coupons

Small items

T-shirts

SR Finale

Entertainers

Family Dance parties

Outdoor carnival

Pizza parties

Pool parties

Super Hero Camp

SR Dreams

What is your SR

dream?

Ideal SR?

Dream big~ Share

Thank You!

Our winner is….

References Baron, K. (2015). READ FOR SUCCESS: Combating the

Summer Learning Slide in America. Education Week, 34(31), 5.

Cummings, Jennifer. "Survey on Summer Reading Trends -ALSC Blog." ALSC Blog. N/a, 16 Nov. 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Roman, S., & Fiore, C. D. (2010). Do Public Library Summer Reading Programs Close the Achievement Gap?. Children & Libraries: The Journal Of The Association For Library Service To Children, 8(3), 27-31.