I wrote for the ALSC Blog in June about changing our Summer Reading Program to be actual programs rather than a take-home program or a score-keeping program. Here are the results!
We hosted parties for the kids based on our sustainability theme of Branching Out. Each party focused on a different biome and featured five major elements that used to be included in our take-home program:
- Reading
- A STEM activity
- A physical activity (gross motor skills)
- A craft (fine motor skills)
- A themed snack
We hosted 6 parties, which were themed as Readers’ Reef (Friday @ 10 AM), Planets & Pages (Thursday @ 6 PM), Jungle Journey (Friday @ 11 AM), Arctic Adventure (Tuesday @ 11 AM), Just Deserts (Thursday @ 7 PM), and Backyard Bash (Monday @ 2 PM). We registered patrons in advance for these programs but allowed walk-ins up to a certain number due to supplies. Our largest party was Planets & Pages with 76 kids in attendance and Backyard Bash coming in second with 72 kids. Overall, we had 310 kids attend these programs.
An example of what these programs looked like is as follows:
Arctic Adventure Rundown
- 1:00 PM – Teen volunteers (2-3) arrive to help decorate the room with handmade decorations made from recycled materials– an iceberg made out of milk jugs, a snowy mountain made from old tablecloths, arctic lights from leftover disco balls
- 1:50 PM – Sign kids in as they enter the room through our “arctic tunnel.” Kids are initially divided into four teams (Foxes, Walruses, Narwahls, and Wolves).
- 2 PM – Go over the agenda for the hour we’re together
- 2:10 PM – Grab a frozen Capri Sun and flavoring from our volunteers
- 2:15 PM – Watch “Except Antarctica” by Todd Sturgell
- 2:25 PM – Play a round of Guess That Arctic Animal
- 2:35 PM – Relay race between the four teams alternating between bear crawl versus penguin waddle.
- 2:45 PM – Arctic lights craft
- 2:55 PM – Grab a prize – a book to keep forever or a Bruins poster
Almost all of our parties functioned the same way except Backyard Bash, which was mainly a dunk tank with a librarian inside.
Our goal with this year’s summer reading program was to target the 80% of kids who sign up and never come back to check in. And our results reflect that we hit that mark. Over 80 kids only attended one party but they got to walk away with a prize and say they completed the summer reading program.
Image created by Olivia McElwain, ALSC member
We also put out a survey after the program to see how much people liked this program versus previous years, and the results were a little mixed, but most people replied that they enjoyed this program more than take-home programs.
Image created by Olivia McElwain, ALSC member
Some lessons we learned quickly were to cap registration to a manageable number. We originally had 2 staff members and 2-3 teen volunteers at each event, but we quickly learned we needed a third staff member to check folks in, hand out prizes, and make sure that adults did not interrupt the program.
We also had less upper elementary students than previous years, and we feared that they were not interested in something tailored to their younger siblings, so we decided that next year we’ll do two aged sections, so that they’ll be separated and we can gear the programs for those ages.
Image created by Olivia McElwain, ALSC member
We think this form of summer reading worked well for our population. It was fast-paced with each activity being about 10-15 minutes long, and we made the library look like a fun place to be. Plus, it’s a program format we are all familiar with as librarians.
We asked in the survey what patrons thought the point of summer reading is. 20 people answered, and 11 people agreed that it is about making reading fun. 5 people said it’s about making the library a part of their routine, 2 people said that it is about helping with the summer slide, and 1 person said it’s about socializing and making friends. We had 1 write-in that said “daughter says it’s fun!”
Image created by Olivia McElwain, ALSC member
Based on our survey results, the amount of folks who participated, and if our goals were met, I would argue this was a successful experiment in our Summer Reading Program. While we were still extremely busy at the desk, we did not feel resentful of the program for the first time in years. We were happy when it finished rather than sighing in relief, and I think that’s a huge win for staff in the summer.
This blog post relates to ALSC Core Competencies of: III. Programming Skills and VI. Administrative and Management Skills.
Olivia McElwain is the Head of Children’s Services at Reading Public Library in Reading MA. She is currently Co-Chair of the 2025-2026 ALSC Membership Committee.