In the yearly cycle of children’s librarianship, we are always preparing for, implementing, or recovering from the Summer Reading Program.  With varying degrees of readiness and numerous approaches to the theme, twenty members of SWAYS (Southwest Advocates for Youth Services) met on March 14th to discuss ideas for the summer. Here are some fruits of our discussion.

The best resource for all things Summer Reading Program is iREAD. In addition to the catalog of products, there are links to the new iREAD wiki and a Flickr page full of craft ideas. The iRead committee members work hard to provide resources and ideas, and always are looking for ideas and materials from librarians statewide.

In a year of tightening budgets, some libraries are hiring fewer performers and opting for more hands-on experiences for the kids. Numerous field trip ideas were mentioned, including local eateries and grocery stores. In more rural areas, perhaps the children could visit a working farm to see food production.

Decorating the library is essential: If your alarm system will allow it, why not hang (fake) food, utensils, or condiment bottles from the ceiling? Highlight a table setting where books are “cooking” or are ready to be served.  For a sweeter display, life-sized CandyLand pieces could decorate the children’s area.

There are myriad opportunities for guessing contests this summer. Some ideas included Guess the food (can be adapted for any sense – guess by smell, touch, etc.); Guess the kitchen utensils (obsolete or odd); Guess the slogan, ex. “Have it your way”; Guess the identity of a pantry item from a warped picture; Guess the recipe from the ingredients; or Guess the ingredients from the finished product.

The library could hold a pizza tasting contest where children and/or teens sample pies from various establishments and rate them in a blind taste test. This idea can be adapted for other foods, like cupcakes!

Encourage the children to play with their food and have a contest where they transform a zucchini or potato into a work of art. Give prizes for different categories: Prettiest, Funniest, etc.

If your library is going with a Picnic theme, you could have a Picnic Game Day featuring favorites like “Hi-Ho Cherry-o”, “CandyLand”, and “Ants in Your Pants”. If you have the area for it, roast s’mores over a campfire; if not, make “Solar S’mores” instead! http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/solar-smores-673886/. Celebrate the sweet tooth with an Ice Cream Social, or create a giant ice cream sundae and ask that children bring toppings to share. Another idea is to purchase premade cakes and have a decorating contest.

Food is a necessity at any teen program, so making young adult programs focused on food isn’t too much of a stretch. There are numerous programming ideas for the Hunger Games available on the web. A personal favorite program is to challenge teens to eat unfamiliar and/or unsavory foods in a “Food Fear Factor” contest. Another competition for young adults could be an “Iron Chef” type program, using prepackaged foods and ingredients.

A tasty icebreaker idea from Edwardsville Public Library is “Ice Cream Sundae”. Divide teens into groups, and give each group a different component of an ice cream sundae. The teens then find others with the ingredients to complete the sundae.

Some libraries are making science and nutrition connections with the “Reading is Sooo Delicious” theme.  Connect the theme to the natural world like Tri-Township Public Library and have children dissect and “read” owl pellets to see what they find delicious. Familiarize young children with the concept of food groups and healthy versus unhealthy food. Show that healthy foods can be delicious too! Introduce children to international cuisine by highlighting a different type each week. Patrons from different cultures could give food demonstrations.

Ideas for food preparation and cooking with children vary from library to library, as each library has different accommodations and policies. There are plenty of books with opportunities for recipe connections, and two excellent resources for librarians are Book Cooks by Janet Bruno, available for two age groups, and Book Cooks by Cheryl Apgar.

Even if you don’t plan on cooking with the kids, there are still plenty of opportunities to make a mess with food. For adventurous types, consider having a food fight using cooked spaghetti. Make sure to cover the library in plastic beforehand. Have a “Pirate Bash” where children are encouraged “to leave their manners at home”. Think anti-Tea Party, but have one of those too! One contest idea is a Bubble-Blowing Contest with a twist – Contestants must eat a couple Oreos before they try to blow a bubble. Whoever succeeds in blowing a bubble first, wins. Slightly less messy but just as fun is a bobbing for apples alternative where a marshmallow hangs by a string from the ceiling. Start it swinging and have kids attempt to catch it in their mouths.

For most libraries, crafts are a fundamental component of the Summer Reading Program, and our ideas ranged from food production – use trading card envelopes as mini window herb pots – to producing with food – use Hershey’s Kisses to create caterpillars and butterflies. Take the young children shopping using a picture of a shopping cart that they collage with food ad pictures. Or remind them “they are what they eat” by tracing their outline on a piece of paper and having them create a food collage.  Bring the craft into a kitchen by creating an apple chalkboard recipe stand from craft sticks or a chef paper bag puppet. “Ice Cream” can be created with a regular ice cone and a painted and decorated foam ball. An alternative is to use a balloon and either rolled paper or a party hat as the cone. As always, be aware of any allergies attendees may have, like a latex allergy.

While we all spend our summer surrounded by food, let’s not forget about those in our community who go hungry. One excellent idea from Freeburg Area Library District was a food drive during their programming. Asking patrons to bring a nonperishable food item to donate to a food pantry is a wonderful way to help our communities.

Websites
iRead:
Wiki – http://ireadprogram.pbworks.com/w/page/50459529/Reading%20Is%20So%20Delicious!
Flickr page – http://www.flickr.com/photos/iread_illinois
Oriental Trading Company (www.orientaltrading.com): Bake shop stickers, aprons, cupcake bank, food ornaments
Guildcraft Arts & Crafts (www.guildcraftinc.com)
Birthday Express (www.birthdayexpress.com): Candyland window decals
IKEA (www.ikea/us/en)
Amazon (www.amazon.com) Melissa and Doug products including Chef Puppet; Sweet Treats sticker pad; Sandwich Stacking Game
Sporcle (www.sporcle.com) Numerous fun contests, including “Guess the Candybar”; “Guess the Burger”
Food quizzes can be found at www.sporcle.com/games/subcategory/food
Taste of Home Kids Coloring book (www.tasteofhome.com/Kids-Coloring-Cookbook)
Worth1000 (www.worth1000.com) – Creative photos using effects
Dover Publications (http://store.doverpublications.com/) Has coloring books on theme. Dover will also send free samples to your email each week upon request.
Demco (www.demco.com) has food related reading trackers
Zazzle (www.zazzle.com) Custom t-shirts and other customized items
Shindigz (www.shindigz.com) Party supplies

Thanks to the following Youth Services staff who shared their ideas so willingly:
Donna Asbeck    - Six Mile Regional Library District; Janet Andrews -Hayner Public Library District; Annette Bland- Columbia Public Library; Carol Brockmeyer- Daugherty Public Library District; Ivy Cowen- Mascoutah Public Library; Marilyn Engel- Fairview Heights Public Library; Judy Groom- Freeburg Area Library District; Synthia Kalinowski- O’Fallon Public Library; Robin Lovinggood – Tri-Township Public Library (Troy); Sis O’Brien- Bethalto Public Library; Teri Rankin- O’Fallon Public Library; Kay Schuette- Louis Latzer Public Library (Highland); Candy Schuler- Columbia Public Library; Portia Stueve- Valmeyer Public Library ; Karen Volker- Freeburg Area Library District; Heather Watkins- Maryville Public Library; Anne Wolfe- Edwardsville Public Library

2012 Abraham Lincoln Award winner is:  Maze Runner by James Dashner

2012 Bluestem Award winner is:  Adventures in Cartooning by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost

2012 Monarch Award winner is:  Shark Vs Train written by Chris Barton and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

Over the past 30 years, iREAD has grown to become a leader of Summer Reading Program development by providing libraries with all of the resources they need to promote, launch, and execute great reading programs. Increasingly, iREAD themes and programs are being used year-round in schools and literacy programs. For more information, call 877-565-1896 or visit here.

Return forms to Jeanne Urbanek, Illinois State Library, Gwendolyn Brooks Bldg., 300 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62701-1796; or fax to 217-782-1877. Jeanne’s e-mail address is jurbanek@ilsos.net.

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The man’s employer realized he could not read and sent him to the Adult Literacy Program at McHenry County College. After one year of working with his tutor, the man attended a class with tears in his eyes. He told his tutor, “Thank you. Last night I read a book to my granddaughter!” The man continues to work with his tutor and now hopes to obtain his GED.

Although she dropped out of high school, this 59-year-old adult learner always intended to obtain her GED. In fact, when she was in her 20’s, she attended a GED class in another state. The woman overheard her tutor saying that she was a “low-level reader,” which hurt her feelings so much that she quit the class.

Recently, the woman moved to Quincy to care for her ailing mother. She was able to transfer from the Indiana pharmacy she worked at to one in Quincy; however, the company now required all employees to have a high school diploma or GED. She worried that she wouldn’t be able to pass the GED test at age 59. She visited the literacy program at John Wood Community College, and was matched with an experienced tutor. She studied hard and successfully obtained her GED.

She is now studying for her pharmacy tech certificate and says her life would be quite different if she hadn’t been part of the John Wood literacy program.

Applicants must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, a division of state, local, or tribal government or a tax-exempt public library. Eligible applicants include literacy centers, libraries, museums, colleges and universities, and arts organizations. Grants will be awarded in varying amounts, from $2,500 to $20,000.

Community organizations participating in The Big Read will develop and produce a well-planned, well-attended, community-wide read with innovative, diverse programming, and widespread community involvement and participation. Grant activities last for up to one month and focus on a book or poet from The Big Read Library.

To access the guidelines and application, visit The Big Read website.

Read the article in the School Library Journal here.

The Illinois Network of Talking Book and Braille Libraries (TBBS) serves more than 28,000 people with print disabilities, which includes anyone who is blind or visually impaired, who has a physical condition that makes it difficult to hold a book or turn pages, or who has a medically diagnosed reading disability such as dyslexia.