Summer Reading Program: Lessons Learned

I survived my 1st Summer Reading Program (SRP) at my library!  Sometimes it was exhausting, but I had a great time doing programming for children and teens over the summer.  Today I was comparing the Summer Reading statistics from 2011 vs. 2012, and I was impressed. 

My library had more elementary school aged children sign-up for the summer reading program this year than last year.  So, because of the high number of sign-ups more entries were returned for the grand prize drawing.  Last year more people attended programs, but my library also offered more programs last year for children.

For the teens we also had an increase in sign-ups.  We had fewer teen programs this year, but an increase in teen attendance!

Lessons Learned:

1.  Talk to people (especially teens):  No mater how many schools I visited, displays created, or flyers and PowerPoint slides I created, it seems like word of mouth was the best advertisement.  As often as I could I would approach parents and kids about the SRP.  Many times people would just walk by the displays, without asking about the program.  It also helped when other children saw someone else picking a prize out of the treasure box, and then they wanted to sign-up too.   

I believe reminding the teens what was happening in the library was also important.  Most of my teen programs had higher attendance when I told them about an upcoming program, and what to expect days in advance everyday.  It also helped when I started creating signs for each event and posting them where the teens hang-out most (by the computers).

2.  Make a million copies of the entry forms before-hand:  I was afraid of wasting paper so I photocopied some each week.  However, some weeks more people would show up to get their game board stamped than expected. 

3.  Reservations:  All throughout the summer people would call ahead to reserve a spot for a special program, and than not show up.  This was always frustrating, because people who really wanted to come to a program were denied.  Next year, I might create a reminder system; or stop denying people after we have reached the program quota. 

4. Tricky Teens:  Over the next couple of days I will try to figure out how to increase the amount of teens who return entry forms.  Right now I'm not sure if they needed more incentives; if they returned their entry forms to another library; or they just forgot.