Coming Soon....Summer Reading!

My posts here on the blog have been a little sporadic in the past few weeks as I prepare for the summer reading program at my four libraries. Yes, I said four!

Registration begins next week. The registration is for the reading contest portion of the program. Prompted by a post to PUBYAC, I decided to have three of my age groups (3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) count days instead of books. This summer is especially long (95 days) and if my goal is to prevent summer slide by keeping the kids reading and learning, I think counting days will do it. The kids get credit for each day they read or listen for 20 minutes and their goal is 48 days. The 0-2 group will be using the early literacy log from the Upstart CSLP catalog. Teens (13-18) read 5 books within the time frame.

My program is going to last 10 weeks this year. Having registration on the same day as the first set of events and awards on the same day as the last set of events was a bit hectic last year. So the first week will be registration for the reading contest. The next eight weeks will be weekly events for two age groups (0-6 and 7-12). The tenth week will be the presentation of certificates and grand prize drawing. I will have one prize for each age group (0-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) at each location. I'm giving three prizes at each location for the teens.

Here are the events I have planned for the summer. Links are to the agendas on my program wiki. I have not tested these story times or school age events yet so they are subject to change. The special events and teen events are still works in progress. Enjoy!

Story Times for Ages 0-6 (Weekly at 4 branches)
Digging Up Vegetables
Digging Up Dinosaurs
Getting Dirty
Underground Animals
Underground Insects
Digging Animals
Digging Machines
Digging in the Flower Garden

Events for Ages 7-12 (Weekly at 4 branches)
Dig Into the Past--Pyramids
Dig Into the Past--Dinosaurs
Dig Into the Earth--Rocks
Animals Underground
Insects Underground
Animals Underground (2)
Digging Up Trouble with Tricksters
In the Garden

Teen Events (monthly at one branch)
Mad Hatter Tea Party (2)
Beneath the Surface Movie Night
Hobbit Party

Special Events
Peter Rabbit & Friends Party (at all 4 branches for age 3 & up)
Alice in Wonderland Event (at 3 branches for age 7-12)