Successful Summer Reading Programs for All Ages: A Practical Guide for Librarians

Kicking off with an overview of the basics, this practical guide covers every step of the planning and execution of summer reading for all ages in clear detail. The book presents rationales for incorporating early childhood and family, teen, and adult programs. Fitzgerald offers ideas for low-maintenance passive programing as well as crafts and paid performances, taking into account the impact on users and staff. She also discusses important issues such as goal setting and incentives. She considers prizes as motivation in terms of expense and staff time, citing research that demonstrates that for some children reading for its own sake is the real reward. Experiential rewards, such as photos of readers or an event with local businesses, are suggested as an alternative to tangible prizes. The volume provides suggestions for promoting summer reading programs and evaluating their success. Helpful websites, ideas for themes, and a variety of programs, including STEAM—based and early literacy—focused, are featured.