Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Summer is the bread and butter season for public libraries.  It is the most concentrated period of activity that most libraries see all year, with "reading programs" designed to occupy the time and energies of youth during the long summer months when they are out of school.

This year's theme is "Fizz Boom Read," for the kiddos, "Spark a Reaction" for the teens, and "Literary Elements" for adults.  The overall "umbrella" theme is science.  I didn't know how I felt about that theme at first, but I quickly realized how much potential was there.

We try to cater to every age group when we plan for our summer programming.  We have separate "programs" for kids, teens, and adults, each with individual events, challenges, and rewards.  A typical Summer Reading week breaks down like this:

Monday: 1PM - "Marquee" children's event (where we bring in an outside presenter/performer)

Tuesday: 6PM - Adult "marquee" event

Wednesday: 1PM - Children's Science program

                    4PM - LEGO Club

Thursday: 10AM - Pre-K Storytime

                11AM - K-3 Storytime

                  3PM - Teen Book Club

                  4PM - Teen Activity

Friday: 6PM - Teen Movie Night

Saturday: 6PM - Adult Movie Night

We have special events along the way, and on the first Saturday in August, we wrap everything up with a free concert on the parking lot.  It's a lot of planning and preparation, but it's tons of fun.  It's always a pretty big letdown when it ends, but we usually turn right around and start planning for next year!

All ages get credit for reading, attending programs, and doing activities on their own throughout the summer.  We stockpile giveaways and incentives throughout the year with the goal of giving them away during Summer Reading.  I have been very grateful to our local business partners for being so generous in donating materials to us for this cause!  

We still aren't completely locked in as to what the GRAND prizes will be this year, but we are leaning towards a learning tablet computer for the 3-7 age group, a large array of LEGO for 8-12, a laptop computer for the teens, and an e-reader/tablet for the adults.  It's easy to qualify - all a person has to do is participate.  The more a person participates, the better chances they have!  

Here are a few preliminary images I have worked up for this summer:

Our Children's Summer Reading game board, which can be used to track independent progress throughout the summer.

The  cover of theTeen Summer Reading independent activity booklet.