Small town librarian discusses crafts, books, comics, media, teens, and more.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Summer Reading Programs

Summer Reading was very successful this year. I issued a challenge to the local teens that if 500 of them signed up for the Summer Reading Program (SRP) I'd bleach my hair and dye it bright pink. To get the word out about SRP I went to all the local schools and the Boys and Girls Club and told them about the reading portion, the prizes, the programs portion, and my challenge. I also used the library Facebook group to promote it.

In the end we had 520 teens sign-up. This is our third summer doing a teen SRP, and we had 372 teens sign-up the first year, 368 the second, so you can see how big of a leap it was. Now, next year, I'll have some sort of challenge based on how many hours they read. My library board has suggested I jump out of a plane, which kinda makes me wonder if they are trying to replace me or something :) My main issue with the plane idea is that it is too hard to top the next year.

The programs were also very successful. I'm very pleased with the number of teens that came to the movies, crafts, and game days.
Movies: Twilight, The Clique, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, City of Ember, Hairspray, and Prince Caspian.
Crafts: Twilight crafts, bleaching t-shirts, fish print t-shirts, t-shirt tote bags, spa crafts, and marble magnets.