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Summer Exploration of a Classic Work
- 1. •A summer-long exploration of a classic work •Complements other adult summer reading programs in StL Metro area
- 2. 2011: Our Summer of War and Peace 1,273 pages 40 participants No vodka No kidding
- 7. Top Ten list by Christa Van Herreweghe christa@ucpl .lib.mo.us
- 8. 2012: Don’t Have a Miserable Summer 1,432 pages ~110 participants in all related programs Think refreshments: cheese, baguettes, patisserie…
- 9. Don Quixote: Dreaming Impossible Dreams Together! 940 pages 10 program events 383 program participants
- 10. Regular Print Audio CD Downloadable eBook Downloadable Audiobook Wolfner Talking Book Print Abridged
- 11. 3 book discussions: a long book is broken into manageable chunks
- 16. “I never would have read this book on my own.” “I feel braver to take on the big daunting classics.” “Thinking about what I would like to discuss with the group as I read makes me more aware of how others might interpret the same passages.” “Makes me more of an analytical reader.”
- 17. Middlemarch: Experiments in (Your) Life! “My writing is simply a set of experiments in life.” Eliot, 1876
- 19. Tell me how many Wolfner patrons are in my service area Help with targeted marketing efforts Make Braille and audio copies of books available
- 20. Workshop for local-area Wolfner patrons and potential Wolfner patrons Additional workshop for St Louis metro-area library staff on connecting patrons with Wolfner services All presented by Wolfner staff at University City Public Library on Tuesday, June 3, 2014
- 21. This project is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
- 22. Kathleen Gallagher Reference and Instruction Librarian University City Public Library 6701 Delmar Blvd. University City, Missouri 63130 314.727.3150 www.ucitylibrary.org kmgallagher@ucpl.lib.mo.us
Editor's Notes
- Good morning and thanks for participating! My name is Kathleen Gallagher and I’m an adult reference librarian at Ucity PL – University City is an inner-ring suburb of St Louis.We’re getting ready for the 4th year of our growing Adult Summer Reading program . We think we’ve come up with something unique – kind of flipping the model on its head a bit – our participants read one long book instead.This works for us – in part – because our patrons have the option of participating in multiple library programs at once. As StL-metro area residents, they can use our library and the consortium of which it’s a part – the Municipal Library Consortium of StL County – and the St Louis Public (city) library as well as the St Louis County library systems.We won’t have a quiz on these details, but I just wanted to point out that our patrons have the best of all worlds, being able to participate in more traditional ASRP and ours simultaneously.
- So what does a ‘big book’ program look like?Let’s look at a little history.First thing I have to confess is that I’m a sucker for those big fat books. So in 2011, we were tossing around ideas and it occurred to me that I might be able to get paid to read one – and call it a program! Because we’re a library that’s almost always willing to try something new, I was actually allowed to try it.We put up some teaser posters, ordered a few copies of W&P, and scheduled a kickoff event. And to our amazement, 40 people showed up that first night, all ready to read W&P.So we ordered (lots) more copies of the book, and rolled up our sleeves…
- I want to share this particular key to our success with you – something we’ve done for all of our programs – my colleague Annie Fuller researches and develops this Readers Guide – a little booklet meant to help our readers along with the process…
- So we have tips, which you can see we pulled from other sources…
- Family tree…
- A map of the novel’s key battle…
- We also typically have plot summaries, guides to the characters, and other historical background information.And this is from our library’s Assistant Director Christa Van Herreweghe – a top ten list.I wanted you to see this because – well, because it’s pretty funny – but also it goes to the heart of our approach – we try to lower the intimidation factor by not taking ourselves too seriously. We’re all in this together – no quizzes, no judgment, we’re just working together toward a common goal and I hope having fun too.
- In 2012 we grew. (Maybe the French food helped?) And the word was out!
- We really got going in 2013 – with the generous help of a summer reading LSTA grant from the Missouri State Library – we were able to offer our program, and add lots of special events, and increase our publicity.So in total, we had 383 participants who attended at least one of our ASR programs. What did this expanded program look like?
- This was something we had worked toward in previous years, but with extra financial assistance, we were able to cover all formats, including a few not shown – namely copies of Don Quixote in Spanish, (of course) and – believe it – Chinese. We also purchased large print copies. (Which were VERY large – 5 volumes)Some people were surprised to see that we offered an abridged version, but our feeling has been that we want people to participate in the program to the extent of their ability, aiming to be as inclusive as possible. We want to break down barriers to participation wherever we can.
- As far as book discussions go, this is the format we’ve used every year of the program – an initial ‘kickoff’ in May, where participants meet and greet, have refreshments, pick up their copy of the book, their readers guide, and the full schedule of summer events.We then follow with 3 monthly discussion meetings, so that the long book is broken into segments. Each meeting has a benchmark page goal, but we reinforce that readers should come no matter how far they’ve read. We’re all about mutual support, not criticism.
- Our related cultural programs were a big part of what we were able to add with the support from the Missouri State Library.Strictly speaking, I don’t recall that Flamenco dancing plays a big part in Don Quixote – but it is a piece of the culture of Old Spain – so we’re just trying to amplify the experience of our readers – as well as give a way for other family members to get involved as well – even children.The Los Flamencos were fantastic by the way – we had people of all ages dancing, clapping and having a ball in our auditorium – and they’re not even paying me to say that!
- Heres another type of cultural program – in this case, working with a program series we already have in place. We’ve been doing Storytime for Grownups at our library for several years – so in 2013 we just linked it to our Don Quixote theme.That’s Bobbie Williams there – and she really did sing a fantastic rendition of The Impossible Dream – and there was more than one person with tears in their eyes. I won’t sing today, but I’ll let you imagine…
- And this speaks for itself…
- As does this – I think we mentioned meager prizes in an earlier slide. We don’t do much in the way of rewards, but we do try to make sure there’s always something good to eat. Book ‘finishers’ also got a special certificate of achievement, signed by Don Quixote and SanchoPanza themselves. Not a lot of monetary value, but lots of bragging rights!
- Here’s what really counts. We hear over and over that our patrons value this program – these are quotes from our end of summer evaluations.That first one – I never would have read this book on my own – is EXACTLY what we’ve been working toward – I feel like we’ve learned that there are people out there who really want to do this type of deep reading, but who hesitate. Providing a structured and fun way to do it has – we believe – helped our readers ‘over the hump.’
- And here’s what’s in store for 2014…
- I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about our fantastic partner organization for 2014.The Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library, in the Missouri State Library.In 2013 we decided we wanted to do more to be sure we were reaching out to as many patrons in our area as possible. And Wolfner helped us do that.
- Before working with them in 2013, I had no idea how easy it would be to have help with all of these things, above.In addition to working with Wolfner to communicate with visually-impaired patrons in our area and make this program accessible to them, we also did things like producing a large print newsletter, which was available in the library and was disseminated via our own Outreach Services program. Most of our other cultural offerings were audio-based, as well – the Flamenco music, the Storytimes for Grownups, maximizing participation.
- And something we’re adding this year that we’re really excited about – a day-long set of workshops for both visually impaired patrons who want to learn first-hand how to use Wolfner services, and library staff who want to know more about how to serve these patrons with Wolfner’s help.If you’re in the StL metro area, stay-tuned for more information on this – ‘cause you’re invited!And again, I’m also not being paid by Wolfner, but I can’t stress enough how easy they made it for us to enhance our program. Actually, they may hate me if they’re deluged with calls this afternoon…
- I need to say again that much of what we’ve done wouldn’t have been possible without the help of IMLS/LSTA.
- So thanks for your time. I hope our success encourages you – not necessarily to do a big book program per se – but more broadly, just to embrace the idea of trying something new. And I would be happy to hear from anyone with more questions later.