Summer Reading Club: Week 3

The end of the third week of summer reading club signals to me that it's almost the forth week, which means we're almost half way through the program and through summer. It's both scary and mystifying -- how did it go so fast? It feels like it's going slow! Alas, it's been another good week, and this was the last week before kicking off a new program, which is our teen mobile collection.

This week's sign up numbers (as of Friday) indicate continued participation. So far, we have 83 teens signed up (which is way up from last year's 50-some!), 281 children age 4-12 signed up, and 67 pre-readers signed up. I'm incredibly pleased with the pre-reader sign up; I looked up last year's stats on the number of kids under 4 signed up for summer reading, and there were only 43. We're knocking that out of the ballpark this year, and I think it's an area I'll be thinking about more in the coming months, as well.

For those of you who do a pre-reader summer reading program, have you seen growth like this? What sorts of programs do you offer this specific age group? My area of expertise in youth services really is in the 8 and older category, so I'm curious what sorts of things you do for your prereaders and caregivers both during the summer and the rest of the year.

On Monday, we had our weekly Lego/Games Club, and we had 33 attendees -- the largest so far! I wasn't there, since I was in New Orleans, but it sounds like my intern did a marvelous job, and as usual, the creations the kids made were intricate and fun to look at when I got back.

On Tuesday, we had a storyteller brought in from our system. He was worlds stronger than the week before's performer, and he really got the kids engaged and interested in his stories. We had a total of 83 attendees, which is a good number. I was a little bummed, though, since it was probably the first perfect day we'd had all summer, and I hoped for a larger turnout.

Wednesday was our Tween Canada Day party, where we had 22 attendees. I talked about this program in depth here. As much as I love working with teenagers, I really have a soft spot for this age group. What I love about 9-12 year olds is that they're interested in making things, and they're not only eager to try things, but they're still willing to try new things (and they're okay with failing!). Not only that, but it's both boys and girls who love doing this stuff -- and they're willing to do both "girl" and "guy" activities without caring.

With the incredible turn out I've had this year for Tween programs, you bet I'll be incorporating it a lot more during the school year and reaching out to these kids.

I was out sick on Thursday, which was our teen book club discussion of Lish McBride's Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. I admit to not being into the book, and I quit after 100 pages (which, as you'll remember, I tell the kids to do if they reach page 50 and can't get into a book). My intern ran the discussion, and while the turnout was lower than prior book clubs, I heard she was fantastic with the teens and the ones who came had a good time.

Friday was our first storytime without our regular story time staff member, who took a job at a new library. It sounded like the kids had a blast though, as their laughter could be heard from the meeting room all the way in the children's room. I love when I hear them having fun!

Overall, it was a quieter week, but one where more and more kids were beginning to earn their prizes for reading. I've had a number of youth and teens finish the reading programs already, and now they're all in the midst of doing the passive programming portion of the summer reading club -- something I'll talk about more in depth soon.

This coming week, since it's a holiday week, means we'll either be slammed with patrons or will be very quiet. I've structured the programming to reflect this, choosing to show a couple of movies, rather than engage in staff-heavy programming.