But It’s Still Winter…
Believe it or not, this is my 20th year working – as a paid employee – in Central Florida libraries. If you include volunteering…well…that’d be most of my life. From all I’ve ever experienced, you can never be fully or overly prepared for a season of summer reading programming. As a matter of fact, I am known for ALWAYS having a backup plan for each program, right down to duplicates of mission critical equipment. Sounds like a military operation, doesn’t it?
So, yes, it’s January and we are talkin’ All Together Now, our 2023 Summer Reading Program!
Nitty Gritty, Nuts and Bolts
I always love a tool kit, a place I can have everything in one spot, like a Swiss Army knife. I’m based in Florida, but this seems to have universal appeal:
CSLP 2023 Program Resources
- CSLP website
- Read Up!: Guide to the Summer Food Service Programs in Public Libraries
- CSLP Facebook page
- CSLP Instagram
- CSLP Facebook Group
2023 Summer Program (and beyond) Resources:
Overview of popular online reading program tracking systems
Take and Make Activities examples from Colorado libraries
StoryWalk® Resources and examples from Colorado libraries
Let ‘Em Be: Passive Programming for Adults Resource Kit
Ideas from a few State Library’s Workshops:
- Fall Youth Services Workshops (PDF)
- Let Em Be Summer Adult Passive Programming (PDF)
- Social Emotional Learning for All Ages & Stages (PDF)
Organizations for Potential Partnerships and/or Resources
Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
- CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning)
- Making Caring Common Project
- Rocky Mountain PBS: Social Emotional Learning
- Early Childhood Mental Health Toolkit
- Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions
- Social Emotional Learning in the Library (free PLA series)
- GRT Quick Bites: Creating Synergy: Weaving Together Early Learning Services
- CSL in Sessions: Friends with Benefits (SEL and Young Adult Services)
Crafts & Creative Programming Ideas
- Make a Paper Gift Bag
- Make an Origami Gift Box
- Finger Labyrinths
- Mindfulness in the Classroom: Finger Labyrinth Meditation
- Plarning: Transforming Plastic Bags into Sleeping Mats
- Two Dozen Ideas for Eco-Friendly Gift Packaging
- Kindness Rocks Project
- World Wildlife Federation Origami Patterns
- Oak Park County Library’s collaborative mural project (YouTube)
- “The Candy Corn Question”: Passive Programming that Pulls People In webinar (Vimeo)
Kits & Curated Collections
- Free Care Kits at DeKalb Libraries (The Champion article)
- Arapahoe Libraries Caregiver Kits
- Nelson Public Library’s Anti-bullying Kit
- Nelson Public Library’s Anti-racism Kit
- Story Kits to Share with Kids – Social Emotional Learning Kits (YouTube)
- Conscious Child’s Family Book Discussion Kits on Racial Equity, Identity, and Justice
- Colorado State Library Resource Kits for Libraries
Projects for Libraries
Teen Programming
- Real Talk
- Words Alive Project (San Diego Public Libraries)
- Jefferson County Library’s Sustainable Prom
- Waltham Public Library’s For Freedoms project (School Library Journal article)
Recordings
The virtual summer learning programming workshops were held in two parts in January 2023. Click “CC” in the video to get captions of the videos for accessibility and/or convenience.
Part 1
Part 2
What I am up to
This summer I’m pulling out all the stops and using my battery of tried and true.
Resources I use:
Quite possibly the most important books, and perfect for this summer:
Have a look at the Playing for Change YouTube channel and get inspired! Record all your libraries all playing the same song, then splice it all together and post it! Amazing content!
Putumayo World MusicQuite possibly the best World Music collection around
Ideas for some shows:
Biblioburro (Jeanette Winters book) shadow puppet show
Turn this picture book into a puppet show — super easy!
We Are All Earthlings — super easy with lots of puppets, perfect for junior volunteers!
Some activities I am doing:
We are going to do most of these outside, all summer long!
Going to borrow heavily from this: