Anne Marley

The Summer Reading Challenge 2006.

The Reading Mission 15 July - 9 September 2006.

In summer 2006, Hampshire Libraries took part in The Reading Agency's eighth national Summer Reading Challenge. The Reading Mission took place in all libraries and on 10 mobiles.

To take part, children have to read six books of their choice over the summer holidays. There are stickers and cards to collect for each completed book, along with a collector's folder to stick them in. On completing the challenge children are given a medal and certificate.

The game is an excellent way to help children enjoy reading during the school holidays and for many, this is their first experience of libraries.

Aims of the Summer Reading Challenge

These are the aims of the challenge as set out by The Reading Agency with comments from parents and children that

o To develop library usage -

o "Another excellent incentive for the children to read and enjoy reading through the summer holidays. They look forward to their library visits and are always reminding us when they need more books" Parent

o To develop confident readers -

o "Brilliant idea! My eldest has been struggling to show interest in reading, however the RM has generated her interest and helped o boost her confidence in her abilities. Therefore making reading together a more enjoyable experience for both of us" Parent

o To provide a tool for new partnerships, and promote inclusiveness -

o "Excellent scheme. Mia really enjoyed this and is achieving a reward for something she enjoys but is a challenge for her. It is so inclusive!" Parent

o To promote social awareness and social skills -

o "I thought it was a very good way of building confidence for young children and letting them feel happy to talk about books" Parent

o To develop the skills of library staff to support and stimulate reader development -

o "I have been doing the reading challenges since the age of 7 and have never been disappointed. All the staff are friendly and don't apply too much pressure when describing the books you've read. Thank you!" 11 year old.

o To promote the cultural impact of libraries

o To support libraries working in partnership with schools

The Summer Reading Challenge helps deliver on key outcomes of Every Child Matters through:

o Welcoming children into libraries and providing safe and supportive reading environments (staying safe)

o Celebrating diversity/other cultures (being healthy, staying safe)

o Supporting learning, encouraging reading enjoyment, rewarding achievement and strengthening partnership work with schools (enjoying and achieving)

o Encouraging involvement in the library service (making a positive contribution)

The Summer Reading Challenge is also an integral part of the public library impact measures which have been developed to demonstrate the value and impact public library services have on people and communities. The inclusion of the Summer Reading Challenge demonstrates the importance of this work with children.

The impact measures demonstrate the contribution and difference libraries make to five of the seven shared priorities agreed by the Government and Local Government Association.

o raising standards across our schools (impact measure)

o improving the quality of life of children, young people, families at risk and older people (impact measure)

o promoting healthier communities (impact measure)

o creating safer and stronger communities (impact measure)

o transforming our local environment

o meeting local transport needs more effectively

o promoting the economic vitality of localities (impact measure)

In 2005 the public library impact measure required library authorities to report on the participation of children aged 4-12 in the summer reading challenge, including the percentage of children 4-12 year olds who start the SRC, the percentage of 4-12 year old boys who start the SRC and the percentage of starters who complete the SRC.

Framework for the Future, the government's' 10 year vision for public libraries highlights the role of the summer reading challenge in encouraging reading in the summer holidays and minimising the `summer learning dip'. It identifies the scheme as an important model for how libraries can work together nationally too make a consistent offer to target groups.

Partnerships

The Reading Mission was promoted extensively to schools in Hampshire. Working with the Schools Library Service, children's librarians and schools library service colleagues visited approximately 300 schools. The Reading Mission was promoted directly to children and teachers through assemblies, with invitations for children to take home to inform families. Other schools where given posters and invitations for the children to take home.

Launch event at Calshot Activities Centre With Hannah Plom and Isobel from Marchwood Junior School

The launch event took place at the Calshot Outdoor Activities Centre in partnership with the Outdoor Services department of Recreation and Heritage. Children from five local schools attended taking part in activities at the centre and hearing about the Reading Mission so that they could act as ambassadors for the scheme on their return to school. The event received media coverage in the local press.

Results

The national average for completing the Summer Reading Challenge is 50%. Even though our finish rate went down slightly this year it is still well above the national average. This is a great achievement for the children and a tribute to the hard work of all library staff who work hard to enthuse and encourage the children taking part.

During the Reading Mission libraries issued 456006 children's items.

This compares with 449216 items the previous year for the Reading Voyage.

Costs

Material from the Reading Agency (stickers, reading logs, invitations, medals etc) £15248

Printing of promotional material (starter cards, information sheets)

£530

Total £15778

Average cost per child 73p

Summer Reads for Teens

The Summer Reads for Teens promotion, which was piloted in East Hants last year, was this year extended to 3 other areas of the county. Once again there was special publicity and displays in selected libraries which highlighted titles ideal for teenage summer reading. Young people were encouraged to write reviews of the books they read by entering them in a prize draw to win a DVD player or an MP3 player.

440 reviews were received from young people ranging from 11-16.

Just a few of the favourable reactions to the books :

"this book told me about life"

"I couldn't put this book down"

"I've never read a book like this before"

" I cried all the way through this book : it was very funny but also very deep"

Future developments

Next year we will work with School Library Service colleagues and schools involved in the Better Chances, Better Lives project which focuses on schools with lower literacy levels. We can then work more closely with schools to support children and reading during the summer holidays. This year we extended the SRC to 8 weeks so we will need to consider whether to do this in 2007 or go back to 7 weeks. We would also like to extend participation amongst younger children so we will be looking at whether we can link in with the Bookstart Treasure Chest distribution in some way. We will use pilot projects to identify ways that we can improve the scheme for future years.

"Full marks to the library for organising a free activity for families to participate in" Parent

Elizabeth Weighell

January 2006