Promotion + Schools = Summer Reading Success

It's the end of the school year and the fun is just getting started for us youth service librarians as the countdown to Summer Reading begins. However, there are a few things to do before school is out to ensure that you have high attendance at your programs and get kids reading over the summer. Here is a check list of ways to work with your school to promote the library and Summer Reading.

Open Houses
Open Houses start as early as February (I usually miss these because I am too late), but most are in May. This is a great time to contact your school and ask to set up a table to have library materials to hand out to parents. Also, don't forget the back to school Open Houses that are usually a few weeks after the start of school. Another good time to remind families about the library.

Class Visits/Assemblies
Ask to speak to individual classes or at assemblies where you can again promote the Summer Reading. Assemblies are nice because you can talk to large groups of kids at one time. If you can get into an award assembly that is even better because parents come and you get to talk directly to the person who will be bringing the child to the library. Some librarians get very creative putting on skits during these assemblies. Anything to get the kids to remember the library! You also want to get the teachers excited about your reading program because they will promote your programs.

Flyers
Send home flyers to every school age kid in your service area. This is another way to get contact with the parents. Schools will ask you to have the flyers grouped by class size and counting out flyers is a perfect job for a high school volunteer. Schools often have a cut off for the last day they will accept flyers to be sent home, so be prepared early.

After School Programs
Find out if your school's after school program will be open during the summer. Find out how you can help them (and your statistics) make a great summer for the students. I provide books and reading incentives (provided centrally by my library system) to these school sites because they often can not get to the library. To make it easier on yourself contact the coordinator of the after school program. This person will help you coordinate the filling out of paperwork and help negotiate any problems that may arise. Plus it is nice to have an extra ally in the school district.

The hardest part of working with your school is getting into the school. If you can find a teacher, principal, or librarian who will work with you, you will be set. I was fortunate to make friends with the District Librarian and thus the library techs at the individual schools. This has made getting into the schools much easier and afforded me many other contacts within the school district. Of course there are many ways to gain contact with schools and I would love new ideas, so readers please share your experience working with schools.

Posted by Anna

J Is For...

JOINT-USE LIBRARY ACTIVITIES

The Logan Heights Library is currently the only joint-use library of the San Diego Public Library system. We are literally surrounded by three schools and serve over 10 public, charter and private schools in our service area. Needless to say we have TONS! of students using our library regularly. As a joint-use library we offer special hours for classrooms visiting the library and priority on the usage of our computer lab and meeting rooms. We also house a curriculum collection of books the students are using in their classrooms. These books are reference copies that students can use at the library should they loose or forget their books.

We have library programs every month to meet the interest of the students and supplement their curriculum. With severe budget cuts in the schools, there is not much funding for field trips and additional programs for the classes to participate in. This is where the library has been able to step in and meet some of those needs. At our library we try to host two programs per month specifically geared towards the schools. Our programs range from music, storytelling, science, animal shows, magic shows, reading programs, class competitions, Día events, holiday themed programs, author visits and overnight library events. We are fortunate to have a large community space with a capacity of 300 people where we host many of our programs. Most of our programs reach the maximum capacity, which to me, is very telling of the need of these types of activities in the schools.

Working at a joint-use public library was something very new to me and I have to admit a bit intimidating in the beginning, but with the help of some veteran librarians and establishing connections early with some of the instructors and principals, I have been able to overcome my fear and embrace this unique working environment. I thoroughly enjoy working in a joint-use facility because it allows me to work closer with students and teachers and make more of a personal connection with them. I feel like a superstar when I walk around the community because it never fails that a student, teacher or parent will say hello or stop to chat and establishing that trust is key to serving our community.

These are some tips that helped me brave the joint-use library world:

• Make connections early and introduce yourself to school teachers and administration.
• Have a clear understanding of the joint-use contract and or policies.
• Establish a teachers email list to e-blast library information and try to get as many educators on that list and at least a couple from every school.
• Attend as many staff meetings and PTA meetings as possible to communicate or remind teachers and parents of the activities happening in the library.
• Create special programs geared towards the schools (class competitions are always a big hit).
• Find out what the curriculum is like in the classrooms so you can find ways to supplement it at the library.
• Stay on top of school calendars and testing dates, this is especially useful when scheduling programs.
• Attend school assemblies or classrooms to promote library programs to the students.
  
• Advertise programs on school electronic boards or other forms of media they use for announcements.
• Keep a detailed calendar of class visits and programs to make sure you don't overlap and can dedicate special time to each class.
• Create an open school friendly environment that will make classes want to return to the library and make sure that library staff is aware of school activities and accessible to the students.
  

"Night at the Library" class competition winners!