Adult Summer Reading
Program
Salem-South Lyon District Library
Mary Kelly Holly Hibner
248-437-6431 ext 202 248-437-6431 ext 201
mkelly@ssldl.info hhibner@ssldl.info
Presentation available online:
www.slideshare.net/hhibner
www.slideshare.net/marykelly48

Other ASRP’s
 Read books, write book reviews, fill out forms to be
drawn for prizes. More book reviews = more forms =
more chances to win.
 “Read at least 2 books per week, enter weekly drawing.”
 “Read six books from four categories to make sure they
don’t read six of the same genre.”
 “Goal: ten books in ten weeks. About half usually finish.”
 “We give adults a card to get stamped when they review
a book they read this summer. Review: list the book and
author, give it a star rating, write three words that
describe it, and list any other books or authors that they
would suggest to someone who reads this book and likes
it. ”

What do these programs have in common?
 Focus is on books and reading
 They require work for the patron
 They punish slow readers and non-
readers
 They cater to those who are already
library users

SSLDL Basics
 Class IV Library
 Member of The Library Network
 Serve multiple townships/counties
 Population served ~18,000
 2 high schools, 2 middle schools,
7 elementary schools
 4.75 (FTE) on-desk librarians

Whole Library Programming
 Programs synchronized to encourage
family participation
 Summer Reading Programs for
various age groups marketed as one
 Promote link between family reading
and literacy
 Everything is connected

Goals for Adult Summer Reading
 Easeof participation
 Market different library services
 Experiment outside of comfort zone
 Model reading behavior to children
 Promote the library as a fun place!

Building a Program
 Try a few summers before judging success
 Bully the regulars
 Get kids to guilt parents into it
 Talk it up during story time, computer
classes, and at check-out desks
 Do senior center visits, exercise class
visits, Bingo announcements, etc.

Adult Participation
•2003 – 76 adults
•2004 – 92 adults
•2005 – 109 adults
•2006 – 146 adults
•2007 – 222 adults
•2008 – 266 adults

Keep it Simple!
 Keep game easy to administer
 Complicated rules undermine goals
 Be flexible with the rules so patrons can
be successful.
 Allow titles to be used in various
categories
 Encourage non-users/non-readers to
stretch and experience the library.
 It’s not the regulars we’re worried about!
For them it is just plain fun.

Adult Summer Reading Program
Horry County Memorial Library System
Claire Campana
campanac@horrycounty.org
Presentation available at:
http://www.slideshare.net/hhibner
http://www.slideshare.net/marykelly48

HCML
 9 branch system, plus a bookmobile
 Staff: 52 full time, 19 part time
 Population served: approximately 250,000

Adult SRP and HCML
Fiction Nonfiction Science Fiction
Magazine of Your Mystery Young Adult
Choice
Biography Movie Based Western
on a Book

Guiding Philosophy
 Autonomy
 Adaptability

Little River Library
2 full time, 1 part time staff members
 Average summer daily patron count: 160

Surfside Library
4 full time, 1 part time staff member
 Average summer daily patron count: 303

Individualized Branch
Approaches

Socastee Library
8 full time, 3 part time staff members
 Average summer daily patron count: 831

Tic Tac Toe
True Crime or Mystery Humorous
Police Featuring Mystery or
Procedural Animals Bibliomystery
Female Mystery Movie Culinary or
Detective or Based on a Historical
Romantic Book Mystery
Thriller
Cozy or British Legal or Senior Sleuths
Mystery Medical or Private Eyes
Mystery

Programming
 Mystery Movie Showings
 Talk on local mysteries by Horry County
Museum director
 Talk by local Crime Scene Investigator
 Author visits

Conway Library
9 full time, 6 part time staff members
 Average summer daily patron count:
433

Prizes
 Tickets to: Alabama Theater
Le Grand Cirque
Carolina Opry
Myrtle Beach Pelicans
 Gift Baskets
 Night at a Bed and Breakfast

North Myrtle Beach Library
4 full time, 2 part time staff
 Average summer daily patron count: 463

Logos

Benefits of Our Approach
 Staff Ownership
 Cost Efficient
 Time Efficient

Claire Campana
campanac@horrycounty.org
www.hcml.org
Presentation available at:
http://www.slideshare.net/hhibner
http://www.slideshare.net/marykelly48
Thanks to Jane (Conway), Sharon and Kim
(Socastee), Cindy (Little River), Shelley (North
Myrtle Beach), and Gwenda (Surfside).

Library
Bingo

It works!
 Market various collections
◦ ie: graphic novels, local history, cookbooks, maps
 “Attend a program” square
◦ Increases program attendance statistics
◦ Markets all the great programs you offer!
 “Read a children’s book” square
• Cross-promotes departments
• Parents can read same books their kids are
reading: encourages family read-aloud time

Prizes
 Adult Programming budget
◦ $700 for 2009-2010 fiscal year (07/01 to 06/30)
◦ ~$50 spent on Summer Reading Program
 Less is more (“Semi-Fabulous” prizes)
◦ More winners
◦ Less about the prize, more about the fun
 20-25 semi-fabulous prizes
◦ Mostly donated by local businesses
◦ Gift certificates purchased for $5-$10 each
◦ Everyone gets a free book/DVD/CD from
donations to library

Techie Details
Created with-
 PHP - General-purpose scripting language
 MySQL - Open source database
 Swiftmail - Open source PHP Mailer
 Visifire - Open source data visualization
controls powered by Silverlight
 Javascript - Scripting language
 AJAX - Used to retrieve data from the
server asynchronously in the background
 MooTools - Compact Javascript framework

Online sign-up
*Software created by fabulous SSLDL Tech Staff from scratch using PHP/MySQL!

Online Sign-up

Administrative Module

Participant’s record

Statistics

In Conclusion
 Keep it light
 Keep it simple
 Make it a family affair
 Promote the library’s collections,
services, and programs

Holly Hibner hhibner@ssldl.info
http://hhibner.blogspot.com
Mary Kelly mkelly@ssldl.info
http://practicallibrarian.blogspot.com
Claire Campana campanac@horrycounty.org
http://www.hcml.org
http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com
Presentation available online:
www.slideshare.net/hhibner
www.slideshare.net/marykelly48