Dive Into Summer Reading

School is almost out for summer and for children around the country it means “No more pencils. No more books. No more teachers’ dirty looks.” But for educators, librarians, and parents it also means many children will succumb to the dreaded Summer Slide.  

Whether you call your summer program Summer Learning or Summer Reading, this is typically the largest library program of the year, and its goal is to stop the Summer Slide. The program involves performers, prizes, and so many people. Right now, librarians are visiting schools, community centers, senior centers, after school programs and local daycares to promote the importance of summer reading. Depending on that librarian, they will present to individual classrooms or do an auditorium visit…and maybe if they are really creative, they will do a skit.

Summer Learning will vary from library to library, state to state and region to region - some libraries will track minutes, others will track number of books read and some will do a hybrid of the two or my personal favorite: book bingo. Libraries have either created their own themes or maybe are using the iRead or the Collaborative Summer Library Program themes.  

Now, as much as we want children and teens to be excited to read for the sake of reading, we know that prizes can draw in new and old users to the program. Some libraries give tchotchkes or tickets to larger drawings, others give out certificates, but over the last decade the trend has become the prize of a book. Books as prizes are just such a library thing.  

Whether you need 100 titles or 2000 titles, Ingram’s Collection Development Librarians have created quick resources for you to find prize books – Check out the Summer Reading 2023 lists for titles that match the iRead and CSLP themes or click on Top Library Titles to find the most popular paperbacks for your age level. And yes, primarily summer reading revolves around children and teens, but remember, adults like prizes, too.  

Regardless of your library theme or prizes awarded, enjoy the energy of Summer Learning, and thank you for all your hard work in preventing the Summer Slide this year.