Non-Summer Reading Programs

My mom likes to send me articles about kids' books and libraries...the following quote is from a newspaper story called "Helping a child choose good books" in the Knoxville News Sentinel this July.

Librarians will often try to make [looking for book suggestions] into a game, and it's one that parents can play as well. For example, you might ask your children to pick a children's book--any book--from a top shelf of the library....Another possibility: have your child head to a library bookshelf, close his eyes, choose three books at random from that shelf and then choose one to read.

These two examples come from my library's summer reading program....We also have bookmarks with various reading choices [listed on them]. Some examples: "read a book with a red cover," "read a book int eh 800-899 section of the library" and "read a book that shows you how to make or do something and then make or do it." Kids roll a pair of dice and choose a book that corresponds to the same number on the bookmark.

We do occasionally get questions from parents during the year if we have a reading program for the fall, or the spring. (Douglas County Libraries run a program every season in part because of the high number of year-round schools in their area.) I think it would be fun to think of developing a couple of different, easy to implement "programs" for our fall and spring "semesters." Maybe we could print up a Genre Bingo Card for the fall and a bookmark with crazy choices for the spring ("read a book with an author whose last name starts with Z").

Maybe we could move Summer Showdown to another season and adapt it? What did you guys think of Summer Showdown? Any comments or ideas?

RPLD Summer Reading

I love my hometown library. They are small, just one location in a medium-sized Chicago suburb, but every time I get a newsletter it seems they are trying something new and cool.

For instance, their Teen Summer Reading program uses a ticket system to promote programs and services in addition to reading!

Teens who read for at least an hour every week earn a small prize and a ticket in a weekly drawing. But there are grand prizes at the end of the summer, too, and the more tickets you have in the pot, the better your chances of winning a prize!

Here's the other ways teens can earn tickets:

1 hour reading books, graphic novels, & magazines = 1 ticket
1 hour listening to audiobooks & playaways = 1 ticket
Teen program = 1 ticket
Write a book, movie, or game review = 1 ticket
Read-2-Gether VolunTEEN = 2 tickets
VolunTEEN (every 4 hrs) = 2 tickets

I love this system! What do you think? What other activities could be worth a ticket?

Homegrown Program Deadline

Ready for summer? The deadline to get homegrown program forms in for our 2nd trimester to Cindy Mares is next Friday, the 20th.

Have an idea for a program? Check with the program contacts at your branch to make sure of room availability, then fill out the Program Suggestion form on StaffNet. You can find the form by clicking on "Forms" on the left hand menu, then looking under the "Popular Forms" list on the right.

Do you have a homegrown program planned that you're excited about? Let us know what it is!

How about one that you could use a little extra help with? Post your plans here and ask for input!

To Prize or Not to Prize?

Do you guys know about CYS-Lib? It's an email listserv for people working with children in Colorado public libraries.

There's been a great conversation on it recently about whether or not libraries should hand out prizes (and if so, what kind, and how much should we spend) for kids who participate in summer reading programs.

This is a perennial discussion topic! There are those of us who feel that if we hand out prizes for reading then we aren't encouraging the right attitude--that reading should be its own reward.

But there are those of us who feel that while kids who are already readers will read regardless, kids who aren't "natural readers" or who struggle with reading really do respond to the challenge and reward of prizes for achievement.

There are others of us in the middle ground--okay with prizes, but looking to place them in a context that includes our "whole package" of programs, books, information, hangout spots, etc. and also looks to include other types of rewards. Some libraries make donations to charities for every hour or book kids read past their required reading, for instance.

What do you think about all this? Leave us a comment! Your Summer Reading Program Committee is listening!

If you'd like to sign up to receive the CYS-Lib emails, send an email to: majordomo@aclin.org. Leave your subject line blank and in the message body, write the two-line message:
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If you'd like to see what some of the discussion has been, let me know and I'll round them up to share.

SRP Is Done! Long Live SRP!

All right! We made it!

Don't forget to pass along your feedback about Summer Reading to your SRP branch rep.

Is there anything that went especially well this year? Did your branch try anything new? Did you have any rough spots? How did your programs go? Did we meet our goals?

If you weren't directly involved with the Children's Summer Reading Program at your branch, find someone who was and ask them for their 2 cents.