Summer Reading Registration

I've always known there were different ways to conduct your Summer Reading Program. Heck, the way I run our is very different from the way I ran it ten years ago. If you ever want to start a...spirited discussion amongst children's librarians, toss out a question like, "Is it better to count by minutes, or by books read?" or, "Prizes or no prizes?"

Recent threads online, however, have shown me how drastically different summer reading can look from library to library. So, I thought I would give a run-down of how we do things, with the understanding that this is how thing work here, and they may not work the same at your here, and that's completely okay! This could get extremely long, so I'll start with what leads up to registration, which begins for us May 27, the last day of school (used to be the middle of May - one change I've made in recent years).

What April looks like...

By now I have done all my fund raising and scheduling and planning (except for my first year, when I came on the job at this time, and NOTHING had been done yet.) I am spending so much time at the copier, someone asked me today if I was running laps. The 5,000 flyers to go out to the schools were thankfully sent out to a commercial printer, but I still have volunteer applications and packets, raffle tickets (we went through over 10,000 last year), 1500 registration forms, equal number of packets/schedules, and approximately 1 million "READO" boards. All of these need to be updated/revised, and will inevitably have a glaring error I only notice after the copies are done. Then they all need to be stapled/cut apart/etc., and I don't have my teen volunteers in place yet.

I am also winding down story times, and scheduling/beginning my class visits, field trips, etc. I will be spending one full day dressed as Bellatrix Lestrange at a local cosplay event, and another at a military appreciation event (no costume), both to promote the SRP and the major Harry Potter event we decided to add to the mix, because hey, why not?

My story times and crafts are planned, so I am purchasing materials, and cutting out pieces parts, and hoarding the books I want to read, now and through 

May

This month's schedule is rapidly filling up with said field trips, and I have 4 volunteer training sessions scheduled. I deliver the flyers (and volunteer forms where appropriate) to the schools, and make note of how many students each has (in the fall I take a stack of books to the schools with the highest percentage participating).

Registration begins on the last day of school. That 'school day' is traditionally only an hour long, and everyone is already in a celebratory mood, so we capitalize on that! To register, parents fill out a little half-sheet form for each child:

I added the e-mail option last year, and it worked REALLY well for getting out notifications!

I usually have a craft for kids to work on while Mom or Dad tries to remember how old everybody is, and t-shirts hanging on the wall so sizes can be an educated guess. Once the forms are done, they get an information/instruction packet, and a "READO" board for each child. There are three different READO boards, but they look like this:

NAME _______________________________________

R	E	A	D	O
I read a book about dinosaurs. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a book about science. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I attended a library program. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a book I picked because I liked the cover. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read every day this week. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________
I read a story that happened in another country. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read to a friend. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a book with a female main character. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I listened to someone tell me a story. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I made a recipe from a cookbook. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________
I read out loud to an adult. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a mystery story. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I wrote a letter to a friend. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read somewhere other than my house. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a historical fiction book. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________
I attended a library program. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a book about love. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a book that was on display. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a book about families. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read in my pajamas. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________
I read a book about nature. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a book that is also a movie or TV show. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a poetry book.. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a graphic novel. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________	I read a fantasy book. Date             Parent Init. ____           _________

(spacing way off because it's landscape on the paper, but you get the idea)

The game board is new this year. We used to give prizes or raffle tickets for every hour/4 books/200 pages read, with a free book, t-shirt, and coupon to a local establishment at the 5th prize. Last year we switched to days read. This year we are doing away with the small prizes entirely, but keeping the big raffle items (as motivation to continue all summer). Instead:

First READO (5 in a row) - coupon plus a raffle ticket

Second READO - free book plus a raffle ticket

Third READO - t-shirt plus a raffle ticket

Every subsequent READO - raffle ticket

So far, the parents I have shown this to have really liked it. Lets hope the kids feel the same! I am going to challenge my own kids to get blackouts on each of the boards, just for fun.

Of course, planning ahead, this means we also need suggested book lists of, say, historical fiction for younger readers...another task for the "to do" list.

The packet itself contains:

- instructions for earning prizes

- schedule of weekly story times (2 preschool, one kinder/first, one second grade and up. We also have two for large groups that aren't advertised)

- schedule of weekly tween activities

- schedule of weekly teen activities

- schedule of weekly family activities

- list of sponsors

- information about free lunches (served here Monday-Friday), free movies at the local theater and at the zoo, and anything else that is offered to kids for free during the summer.

Kids can start earning prizes as soon as they are registered, so the books really start flying off the shelves at opening registration. That is a day I see many of my regulars, as well as families who can't make it in much during the school year except for rushed visits. I really love the whole atmosphere of the day - school ending, fun beginning, everyone relaxed and chatting and happy! Best part of the whole summer!

After the first day, my teen volunteers handle most of the registration and awarding prizes. I keep a spreadsheet with all the information on the cards (password protected), and every morning before we open, I update with new registrations, prizes received, etc. This way I can get statistics at a moment's notice, and if someone's form is misfiled, I can easily bring them up and see which prize they are on. A little work to set up, and you have to keep up with it, but so worth it! (Yes, I know there are online programs you can buy, but I haven't seen any that look worth the money to me. And if people are registering online, you miss the visiting, the craft, etc. No thanks!)

Just 25 days away! Time to get back to that "to do" list!