Alaska Summer Reading Program 2011

Sponsorship

The Alaska State Library cooperates with the Alaska Library Association each year to sponsor a statewide summer reading program theme. The State Library provides a basic starter kit of materials and a program manual to each of Alaska’s participating public libraries. The materials are developed in a cooperative with 49 other states, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories as part of the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP).

The CSLP website allows any Alaska public library access to special features and an online order form, but you now must follow the easy registration process to access the membership area of the website. Any public library is eligible to use the registration system to access this members-only area.

This Year's Themes

Children’s Program: One World, Many Stories

The artist for this year’s program is Rafael López , who has been awarded the Pura Belpré Award for his picture book illustrations for Pat Mora’s Book Fiesta!

Teen Summer Reading: You are Here.

Designed for readers in 6th grade and up, the teen program has a separate manual. This year’s artist is Canadian/Russian manga artist Svetlana Chmakova.

Adult Program: Novel Destinations

More and more public libraries in Alaska are trying an adult summer reading program. What about giving it a try at your library this year? An adult program can be much more low-key than the children’s program is, and you may find someone in your community who would like to initiate your local adult summer reading program. The artwork for this program was created by artist David Moore.

Materials

Manual and Participation Forms

All public libraries receive one free manual from the Alaska State Library as well as a participation form (PDF) AND an order form for summer reading materials from the Upstart/Highsmith Company, the contracted vendor for CSLP. If your library did not receive a manual, please contact Sue Sherif at the Alaska State Library. Please note the deadlines on the Alaska State Library participation form and the Upstart/Highsmith in order to ensure timely delivery. This year’s deadline for receiving materials from the Alaska State Library is November 22, 2010. If you are reading this after the deadline, please contact the Alaska State Library Anchorage office at 800.776.6566 and ask for Sue.

Participation forms and manuals are sent to each public library in Alaska in October every year. If you did not receive a participation form, please use the one above.

Clip Art and Reproducible Forms

Clip art is available in color and black and white on DVDs included in the 2011 manual. Clip art is also available in the manual in black and white for photocopying. There are also reproducible forms and handouts included on the DVD. If your library does not have a DVD player, you may request a CD version by writing to Sue Sherif.

Other Materials

Each library that is interested in participating and fills out a participation form (PDF) or emails the Anchorage Office of the Alaska State Library with the information requested on the form will get a starter kit of materials for 25 or 50 participants. If you have fewer children in your summer reading program, you can indicate that on your interest form and we’ll send you a smaller pack. If you have a larger population or you want to order additional reading incentives and other materials that you don't receive from the State Library, you may order more or different materials from the CSLP site. You will have to register at the CSLP site to access the online order form.

You can also make your own supplementary materials if you prefer and adapt the program to your community’s needs by using the materials, clip art, and digital art that come with the manual and the accompanying DVD. There are rules for use of the artwork, so please respect these and general copyright laws. Check with the Alaska State Library Anchorage office if you have questions.

Adult Summer Reading Program

The CSLP is once again offering an adult summer reading program. The 2011 theme is Novel Destinations. The Alaska State Library will not be supplying materials for this program, but you will find ideas for launching such a program at your library in the manual and can order materials for this program directly from Upstart/Highsmith.

Planning Your Summer Reading Program

If you would like to read more about planning a summer reading program, the Alaska State Library has the following titles, which you can borrow through interlibrary loan:

Evaluation and Reports

If you receive summer reading materials for your library, the Alaska State Library would like to have some feedback. The State Library will send you a report form and an evaluation of the materials. Be sure that you keep statistics of participants and volunteers during the summer reading program so that you will be prepared to report back. You will be asked to report the number of children, teens, and volunteers in your program and be given an opportunity to provide feedback about how the program worked for you. This report will be due in September of 2011.

Advocating for the Summer Reading Program

In addition to consulting some of the print resources above, you may also want to check these resources if you want to explain why your summer reading program needs community financial support:

Promoting Your Program

To hear and download radio public service announcements for the 2011 summer reading programs for children and teens, visit the CSLP web page, where these are usually posted in the spring for easy downloading. (If your community doesn’t have a local radio station, perhaps your school would play them on the morning announcements).

Also available at this site are video spots and tips about how to use these announcements to promote your library’s programs. If you have a library website, you might want to run these on your web page. The Anchorage Office of the Alaska State Library will have a limited number of these video spots in on VHS continuous loop and DVD for you to borrow.

Other tips for publicizing your summer reading program for maximum participation are available in this year’s manual.

For More Information

Contact Sue Sherif, Alaska State Library, via email or at 800.776.6566.