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Summer Reading:
Summer Reading Q&A with
Cindy Roberts, Yamhill Carlton Elementary School
Summer Reading Q&A with
Cindy Roberts, Yamhill Carlton Elementary School
Tell us a little bit about your summer school library program?
Yamhill Carlton is a K-3 school serving about 300 students. We also have one middle school and one high school in the district. The program allows the library to be open six weeks during the summer. I have three 3-hour days, plus prep time, which comes out to 60 hours each summer.
The time is open and not very structured. We do have a theme each week and crafts, and I do read to students if they ask. They can also check out books.
Does your community have a public library?
There is no public library in town. The closest one is McMinnville, which is five miles away. The bookmobile from the public library has typically come once a week and parked at the high school.
How did your program to open the school library in the summer start?
It was actually going on when I arrived, so over 17 years ago. I think it was initially funded by a grant, but now it’s part of our budget. It is written as a separate contract.
What is your participation like?
Some days, we have 30-40 students, and some days as few as 10. Sometimes older siblings return with their elementary-aged siblings, and they can check out books, too. They can come on their own, as some of the neighborhood children do, but it’s not a daycare. We have a lot of communication with parents in our small community.
How do you get the word out to families about your program?
We send out a flier every year. We also use Facebook and the school newsletter. We also put posters up around the doors.
Summer Reading Q&A with
Araceli Acosta, Beaverton City Library Youth Outreach Specialist, and
Jennifer Wolf, Beaverton City Library Children’s Librarian
Summer Reading Q&A with
Araceli Acosta, Beaverton City Library Youth Outreach Specialist, and
Jennifer Wolf, Beaverton City Library Children’s Librarian
What does the Beaverton City Library have lined up for Summer Reading this year?
We have Summer Reading Programs (SRP) for all ages! www.BeavertonLibrary.org/SRP
Kids and teens get to choose a free book after completing 15 hours of reading, listening, and learning over the summer. This year Adults are reading for the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO). Adults track the hours of reading to help earn donations for a local non-profit organization.
Tell us about how your library has found success collaborating with local school librarians and media assistants to promote Summer Reading?
Every spring, we reach out to our local school Library Media Assistants, Librarians, and our other school contacts and offer a visit to their end of the year assemblies or classrooms to get students excited about SRP. This year we offered the following options:
• Skit – A fun & interactive 5-minute skit that is designed to give students all the basic info about how they can participate in SRP. This year it was created by our amazing co-worker, Carson Mischel, and it was inspired by The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak. Best for end of the year assemblies. We prefer this option for elementary schools because we get to reach the most students in one visit.
• Booktalks – We talk up new and high interest book titles to get students excited about SRP! Highly requested by 5th grade and Middle School classrooms.
• Storytimes – a 15-minute storytime where we read a book and explain how to use the reading log. Best for Pre-K, K & 1st grade classrooms.
We also offer to bring printed Summer Reading Logs for teachers to hand out to students after our visit, or for school library staff to distribute during their regular library rotations.
In recent years we created videos for schools to promote summer reading. Many school LMAs and librarians used these videos during their library rotation to introduce the Summer Reading Program to their students.
How did collaborations with your public schools begin?
Beaverton City Library has been partnering with schools before we joined the team. We don’t know how it all began, but we do know that promotion of the Summer Reading Program to K-2nd grade was the focus for many years. Within the last few years, our outreach team has grown, and we’ve been able to expand our collaboration year-round! We also want to take a minute to acknowledge that not all public libraries have the capacity and bandwidth to provide year-round outreach to more than 25 schools in our service area. At Beaverton City Library, our school centered outreach currently consists of two staff members. One full-time Youth Outreach Specialist who focuses on T1 schools, early learning and Spanish-speaking families. One full-time Children’s Librarian who focuses on school outreach, collections, storytimes, patron communication, and more. We also have support from others on our team to visit schools when needed.
Do you have plans or ideas for future collaborations after Summer Reading is over?
Yes! Our school focused outreach team likes to keep in regular communication with our school contacts throughout the year. We…
• Send emails monthly highlighting 2-3 services or programs happening that month.
• Schedule visits to promote the WCCLS Student Library Cards with kindergarten and preschool classrooms.
• Visit Back to School Nights, Kindergarten Orientations, Family Nights at the Library, Free Food Markets, etc...
• Visit Parent/Teacher organizations to remind families about their student’s public library card and how to use it to unlock a wealth of resources.
• Individual classroom visits for storytimes and library facts that fit with what the students are learning in class
• Aim to quickly respond to our school partner questions about the public library, our services, or even questions like “My student says they returned a school library book to your library, can you check?”
If a school librarian doesn't currently work with their public library, what suggestions would you have on getting started?
In our experience, public librarians LOVE making connections with their colleagues at school libraries. Below are 4 tips when reaching out to your local public library:
• Reach out to the public library closest to your school. We sometimes get requests that are outside of our service area, and we must sadly decline.
• Calling or sending an email to ask about a visit to your school.
• Ask if there is a staff member who provides youth or outreach services. There may even be a staff member assigned to your school trying to find a way in!
• Ask how you can help promote Summer Reading at your school and/or if they’d like to visit!
Beaverton City Library Summer Reading Celebration at local school in 2015.
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