Interactive SLP Prizes

When I was a frontline youth librarian, I loved thinking of ways to make the SLP experience fun for kids. One year, when the CSLP theme was sports, we put SLP buttons on ribbons, and put their "medal" over their heads while playing the Olympics theme song. Another year, when we had a medieval theme, we "knighted" the kids to recorded fanfare. 

Tiny Tips for Library Fun blog pix

More recently (relatively, since I've been retired from FT work since 2015) when we went completely prizeless, each time kids visited the library, they got a sticker to add to a rectangular piece of paper we used to build a robot. In other years, our Friends of the Library sponsored a CSLP-themed adoption if kids reached a certain community reading goal (adopt-a-star; adopt-a-zoo animal; adopt-a-dolphin, etc). Those little extra touches ramped up the fun for both kids and staff. No ho-hum at the library those years. 

So I was especially excited to read an ALSC blog post earlier this summer in which Emily Mroczek-Bayci focused on ways that kids could get their prizes as an "experience  or interactive prize."

She wrote: "Now that most summer reading programs are in full swing: let’s talk about prizes. There’s many aspects of this conversation, some of which have been focused on before: accessibility, going prizeless, outcome based prizes, etc. etc. Today I want to focus on experience or interactive based prizes- where finishers don’t get an item but instead get to “do something” in the library. (Another version of “experience” prizes is a ticket or pass to a local museum, a free party, a personalized bookplate etc.)"

To read her list of interactive prize ideas, stop here. [Spotlight on: Summer Reading Prizes. Mroczek-Bayci. ALSC blog. June 12, 2022.]

How Accessible Are SLP Coupon Prizes?

 

Chelsey Roos

A recent ALSC blog post by Chelsey Roos raises some important questions about the types of prizes that we give away for summer reading program. While recognizing why many libraries rely on coupons or passes from business and organizations for SLP prizes, she also brings up valid issues about how these can also be problematic for kids who lack access or parental support.

She writes about her own personal experience as a child: "As a huge reader, I was absolutely over the moon that I was able to show off my reading to a librarian. I cannot describe to you my immense excitement when I got my little prize pack. And then my crushing disappointment, when I found I wasn’t able to use any of my prizes. While many of my peers had loving grown-ups who could take them to use the free museum passes in the packet, I did not. While many of the families in my area could use the coupons for money off ice cream and pizza, I could not."

Chelsey goes on to invite us to ask questions of our prize decisions to understand questions of accessibility and usability of these incentives in a thoughtful post that you can read here. (Summer Reading Prizes and Accessibility. ALSC Blog. February 10, 2022)

"Creating Community Fun" - Engaging Kids Outdoors

Sue Abrahamson Youth Services Manager at the Waupaca (WI) Area Public Library shared some easily do-able, outdoor-centric activities that they've had success with.

Weekly Sidewalk Math, at various levels of complexity, can be found chalked outside around the library. The problems change weekly.

Our Summer Library Program has become a community challenge instead of an individual one.  Can Waupaca read 5,000 books this summer?  Drawings for local Chamber of Commerce Gift Certificates boost our local economy.  Each participant can earn up to 50 entries by reading books and logging them through Beanstack, writing book reviews, or by taking part in 35 activities.  We are already at 33%!

Confetti (unicorn pinata named by the kids) is our magical mascot this summer.  Staffers have taken Confetti to obscure and familiar places in the community.  Each week people can reply "thumbs up" if they know where Confetti was photographed, or "sad face emoji" if they are stumped.

Using old game boards as backdrops, we are creating virtual and physical "I Spy" games.  Fun for all ages!  Our front lawn is the local farmer's market each week, so lots of traffic and fun to be explored.  Add a QR code to gather feedback.

We also have four Storywalks around the community which we change out ever six weeks!

Creating Community Fun YSS blog COVID-19 series

• Mini-Golf Reader’s Cup  9/25/21
• Beep! Beep! Honk if you have Bingo!    9/1/21
• Letters to Guinea Pigs  8/18/21
• Stuffed Animal Fun for Everyone  7/13/21
• Pet Show and Tell  4/17/21
• Campfire Storywalk 3/10/21
• Outdoor Storytimes 1/17/20
• Family Trivia Night  10/7/20
• Flipgard, Fanfare and Friends: River Falls Celebrity Storytime  9/21/20
• Tie Dye Masks  8/24/20
• Summer Book Picnics  7/13/20
• Engaging Kids Outdoors  7/10/20
• Downtown Story Stroll    6/5/20
• Book nCover Double  6/8/20
• Going the Extra Mile 6/15/20 
• Summer Storyteller     6/16/20