Conference goers at the iREAD preconference at the CLA Annual.
Children’s and teen librarians made homemade instruments, painted piano keys on clay pots, downloaded the Vine app onto their phones, and absorbed dozens of other ideas for programs, displays, outreach, and marketing during iREAD’s (Illinois Reading Enrichment and Development) Summer Reading Program event on November 7 at the California Library Association’s (CLA) Annual Conference (November 7–9).
IREAD (K−8) is a “coordinated, self-supporting effort to develop and provide high-quality, low-cost resources and products to enable local library staff to promote reading [and life-long learning],” according to the program’s website. While IREAD has been the CLA-endorsed program since 2013, California libraries are free to choose any summer reading program product.The California Summer Reading Program is a project of the California Library Association, supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.”
This year, iREAD’s theme is Read to the Rhythm, which is bound to mean a fun and noisy summer for all ages in participating libraries. Members of the CLA Summer Reading Program committee took turns highlighting creative tips and ideas following this theme for every age group. For the youngest patrons, Rachelle Lopez, youth services librarian at the Ontario City Library, suggested putting on a hoedown, complete with cattle calls, line dancing, and homemade clip clop instruments that sound like horse hooves. Another harmonious idea is to set up interactive flannel board displays at toddler eye-level, allowing little ones to match the silhouettes of instruments with their images.
Jill Harris, youth services librarian at the San Rafael Public Library, presented a cabaret of ideas for kids and tweens, from playing snippets of songs and asking kids their names, to presenting an instrument “petting zoo.” Dance parties are always popular, especially when kids and tweens get to choose the music and decorations—and if that’s too daunting, encourage kids to make their own instruments from common household objects.
Eva Mitnick is the coordinator of Children’s Services at the Los Angeles Public Library.
Teens thrive on challenging hands-on activities, and Courtney Saldana, the supervising librarian of youth services at the Ontario City Library, offered up a fine selection of music-based craft projects. Sheet music looks stylish and is available all over the Internet, so why not print out a bunch and use it to decoupage anything from picture frames to bike helmets? Cassette tapes may be unfamiliar objects these days, but teens still love the idea of mix tapes. Challenge them to make playlists for characters in their favorite books.
IREAD presents an adult summer reading program as well, and Morgan Pershing, adult services librarian at the Santa Clara City Library, urged librarians not to forget the grown ups. There are so many benefits to offering an adult program, said Pershing. Adults are role models for kids, reading helps strengthen aging brains, and, of course, even adults like to get rewards sometimes. Most importantly, adults vote, and so it’s important to create library programs and services that resonate with them in order to create more active library supporters. According to 2014 statistics from CLA, there are more adult participants in the summer reading program than teens in some California public libraries.
Music-themed decorations will add a harmonious note to libraries next summer. Elyse Barrere, young adult librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library, noted that drawn-on and decorated CDs make fantastic mobiles and backgrounds to displays. Sheet music can also be used for display backgrounds, as well as for origami and greeting cards. Sprinkle some musical puns—”It only takes a minuet to get into treble”—on your displays to extend the musical leitmotif.
For libraries wishing to make community giving a part of their summer reading program, CLA offers a statewide, charitable initiative linked to the Read to the Rhythm theme. Anna Hartman, teen services librarian at the San Diego County Library, headed a presentation that described how libraries can seek out groups that will offer free music or dance programs, and then collect voluntary donations from the audience that will be used toward a cause.
Between presentations, audience members had a chance to attend small breakout sessions. It was hard to choose only two out of the 12 sessions available, especially when they included topics ranging from crafts to Common Core to outcomes to Vine. The room hummed with excited discussion, punctuated every now and then by what sounded an awful lot like homemade didgeridoos.
Participants left the preconference laden with cowbells, maraca pens, and plenty of inspiration about ways to create the most rocking summer reading program ever in 2015.
Eva Mitnick is the coordinator of children’s services at the Los Angeles Public Library in California.
