Reading Program
As reported only a few weeks ago, our 2014 summer reading program will be online and we have purchased the software we will use, Evanced Solutions’ Summer Reader:
Our next steps involve making decisions about the structure of the reading program. We need to decide which things need to change in order to meet our goals (see August 20, 2013 announcement).
The Incentives to Read (ITR) committee will work on the structure of the program. Present at the September 11 ITR meeting were: Karen Marriott (MSO), Kay Bauman (LO), Emily Williams (OUT), Kristin Williamson (OUT), Julie Ballou (LO & PIE), LaVetta Dent (LO & PIE), Jana Hausburg (LO & PIE).
There is much to work out and so far we’ve settled on:
- The software, Evanced Solutions Summer Reader
- Addition of a component for adults
- Reading goals based on 20 minutes a day
- Incentives to read that are associated with reading, such as a book.
Our next meeting is scheduled for September 26, 2013 with members of Marketing, Planning and Development attending.
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Comments
I love this idea, and I think, once we get past the learning curve, it will be a very efficient way to run a summer reading program.
However, in this video, she said all kids today have some kind of electronic device. I'm sorry, but that is incorrect. So many kids in my library do not have any kind of device, and do not have access to one, EXCEPT at the library! We just need to make sure we continue to bridge that digital divide.
I love the potential this program offers, especially the Facebook link. Kids who love to read will love this!
I'm glad to hear that you think it's a good idea.
Every age group has people who use and don't use electronic devices. Just last week the Pew Research Center released the results of a study entitled Who’s Not Online and Why. It indicates that 15% of American adults over 18 do not use the Internet or email. Dive into the full report for more information.
The Summer Reading Program Online Regisration annoucement identifies the goals we want to focus on as we plan the reading program. One of those goals is to "ensure participants may also register and/or track online in the library with minimal computer wait time". The ITR committee has been meeting and discussing options for addressing that.
Thanks for commenting!
Pew seems to be a reliable information source in my experience. Looking on the Pew website I was unable to find a report on children's access that parallels the adult report you cite.
Will children and their caregivers be able to use the traditional paper methods of participating in summer reading? Children might have access to digital devices in their schools but that resource would be closed to them during summer.
Short-sighted politicians, in Oklahoma and nationally, are reducing funding for many public programs vital to a cohesive society such as SNAP and health care. It would be a mistake for our public libraries to short-change our future tax-payers with the income divide created by a digital illiteracy--not too different from an illiteracy of ink and paper.
And there's the language divide. Will Spanish language materials be considered an important resource for inclusion?
The details and processes for the readng program have not been worked out just yet. The ITR committee does have goals, which will guide those decisions.
The Spanish language support that Evanced Solutions offers will be enabled and MLS will continue our practice of having printed pieces in Spanish.
Thank you for sharing your concerns.
I heard that the online system will have a Spanish option, which will be an improvement from our current system. Though we have informational fliers available in Spanish, the registration forms and the game cards were not.
I agree that the lack electronic devices may be a problem. Several customers that visit my library location (CH) don't have electronic devices of their own and we often have a large number of people that use the computers. But, I also know that there are several solutions.
I think the first alternative would be to offer the use of the library's public computers to sign up. The customer can do what they wish on the computer but also take a little time out to get their children signed up, or sign themselves up for the Summer Reading Program. This is also a good way to make sure that the customer has a clear library account. They wouldn't be able to use the computer if they haven't taken care of their fines, updated their information, etc. The customer wouldn't be able to use their account to check out books anyway if their account wasn't clear.
I feel this is important because, the customer can always come in to read books even if their account isn't cleared up completely, but I don't feel it is necessarily fair to allow those that more or less abuse their rights at the library to benefit from the incentives when others who don't end up missing out. I know each customer gets a fair chance to get an incentive but it seems only fair for those who are already benefitting from the wrongful use of the library to not benefit more so.
If for some reason the customer can't sign themselves/their children up on the public computers (whether its due to lack of sight, or not being able to understanding the procedure, etc.), maybe a librarian or a public computer specialist, or even volunteers help them do so. It wouldn't be much different than when people ask for help getting into their e-mail and such.
I think this format of doing the Summer Reading sign up and such is a great idea. One of the benefits I feel is that then the online customer information cards are less likely to get filled out wrong (flipping of where the first and last names go). It also makes it easier to track which cusomter is where on their progress through the program and that's wonderful. It'll be less stress on the persons that have had to do the counting for so many years. Also, the library system will be reducing the amount of paper usage even more than they already have. This is always good for the environment.
I think other good ideas for incentives might be cool designed book covers or extra special book marks. We (CH) even talked about maybe having a 1 time fine waiver for up to $3-$5.