SUMMER READING @ HPL

STUDY TEAM

Kirsten MoffattTeen LibrarianBrantford Public Library

Dr. Lynne McKechnieProject ConsultantUniversity of Western Ontario

Helen BenoitDirector, Children and Young Adult ServicesHamilton Public Library

IN THIS PRESENTATION

• Background information on Hamilton, the Hamilton Public Library and its Summer Reading Program

• Who was involved in the study and how they were involved (methodology)

• Principal findings as well as additional findings

• Benefits of conducting this type of study

• Tips for conducting your own Summer Reading Program study

ABOUT HAMILTON

• Hamilton is the fourth largest city in Ontario

• A culturally rich population of approximately 500,000

• Recent Social Planning and Research Council report indicates 20% of the population living below the poverty line, this figure includes 25% of all children in Hamilton

ABOUT HPL

• 24 branch locations and 2 bookmobiles

• Branches located in urban and rural areas

ABOUT SUMMER READING

• Summer Reading Program is a core service at HPL

• Planned and delivered yearly by Youth Services Librarians, Branch staff and Summer Literacy Workers (post secondary students)

• Read-and-report structure

• Children must read one book to sign up

• Participants are rewarded with incentive prizes after reading certain numbers of books

SUMMER READING PROGRAMS

STORYBOOK CLUBParents read with children aged 0 to 6 years and recordtheir progress on their own.

SUMMER READERSChildren aged 6 to 12 read on their own and report on theirbooks at the library.

READING BUDDIESReluctant readers aged 6 to 12 read with a buddy.

TEEN READING CLUBTeens aged 12 to 18 read and fill in ballots to record theirprogress.

PROGRAM GOALS

The Hamilton Public Library’s Summer Reading Program

has four main goals:

• Stimulate and encourage a love of reading in children including those with reading difficulties.

• Assist interested children in maintaining their reading level over the summer.

• Improve children’s ability to communicate about literature via oral and written reports.

• Improve staff knowledge of children’s reading interests.

FUNDING

HPL hired 42 summer literacy workers in 2004. Funding forthese positions came from a number of sources:

• Summer Career Placements• Summer Job Service• Young Canada Works• Hamilton Public Library

SUMMER LITERACY WORKERS

Summer Literacy Workers are post-secondary students withcareer interests in library work, teaching, early childhoodeducation and literacy.

SPONSORS

Major sponsors for 2004 included:

• TD Bank

• The Hamilton Spectator

• Hamilton Tiger Cats

• Optimist Clubs

PARTNERS and PRIZES

• Many incentive prizes for the SRP are provided on an

in-kind basis

• Requests for prizes are made to local and national organizations, i.e. Kiwanis, Canada Post Heritage Club

• Incentive prizes are given to program participants as they reach specific levels within a club

• Donations are also used as prizes for programs and contests

PRIZE STRUCTURE

# BOOKS CHILDREN’S CLUBS TEEN CLUB

1 Ti-Cat Tickets and TD Passport

Ti-Cat Tickets and Spectator Tour

3 Colouring Sheet and McDonalds Coupons

6 TD Poster and Stickers

TD Poster and Magazine or Anime Sampler

12 Book or Canvas

Book Bag

Book and Choice of 2 Food Coupons

GENDER BREAKDOWN AND COMPLETION

Of the total participants in 2004, 45% were boys and 55%were girls.

Compared to 2003:• 793 more boys enrolled in 2004• 678 more girls enrolled in 2004

2004 saw an increase of 1,137 readers reaching the six booklevel.

Data also showed that there was an increase in the numberof boys reading more than one book.

2004 STATISTICS

Storybook Club

3,413 participants – 15.3% increase

Summer Readers

5,714 participants – 19.5% increase

Reading Buddies

704 participants – 6% increase

Teen Reading Club

961 participants – 4.7% increase

TOTAL PARTICIPATION

10,792 participants – 15.7% increase

SUPPORTING PROGRAMS

408 supporting programs were offered during the months ofJuly and August. 16,074 young people attended theseprograms – a 35% increase over 2003.

• Kick off programs with “Reptile Man”• Teen Animé Film Festival• Pen Pal Program• Library Bingo• Crafts

PROMOTION OF SRP• School visits• Partnership with Boards of Education to produce and

distribute a flier to all students

• HPL promotion

- What’s Happening @ HPL

- HPL web site

- Posters and other print material available in the library

• Program kick-off events• Directed mail outs to parents of preschoolers in

partnership with Healthy Babies Healthy Children

• Repeat ads provided by our local newspaper

• Outreach and Participation in local Festivals

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE SUMMER READING PROGRAM?

An evaluative study of the

program at Hamilton Public

Library.

ABOUT THIS STUDY

• Budget of approximately $15,000 for all associated costs approved by HPL Board

• Co-op student/recent MLIS grad hired as lead researcher

• Four months from start to finish

• Descriptive statistical and qualitative data collected to determine whether the Summer Reading Program is meeting pre-established goals

PURPOSE OF STUDY

PRIMARY PURPOSE

To determine how successful the Summer Reading Program is in meeting its established goals.

SECONDARY PURPOSE

To collect information on the effectiveness of particular aspects of the program and on the perceptions of different stakeholder groups vis a vis the Summer Reading Program.

WHO WAS INVOLVED?

• Storybook Club/Reading Club Participants

• Teen Reading Club Participants

• Reading Buddies Participants

• Parents of Participants (all streams)

• Educators (Public, Separate and Private Schools)

• New Canadians (adults and children)

• Reading Buddies Volunteers

• Summer Literacy Workers (university students)

• HPL Branch Managers

• HPL Staff Involved in SRP

PARTICIPANT NUMBERS• SBC/SRC Participants – 260 interviewed• TRC Participants – 22 surveyed• RB Participants – 46 attended focus groups• Parents of Participants – 141 interviewed• Educators – 70 surveyed• New Canadians – 73 attended focus groups• RB Volunteers – 53 attended focus groups• SLWs – 26 surveyed• HPL Branch Managers – 6 surveyed• HPL Branch Staff Involved with SRP – 26 surveyed

TOTAL STUDY PARTICIPANTS - 723

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

To collect data from members of our targeted stakeholder

groups, we used:

• Personal Interviews

• Surveys

• Focus Groups

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

Based on the data we collected, it appears that HamiltonPublic Library’s Summer Reading Program is verysuccessful in meeting its goals.

GOAL 1STIMULATE AND ENCOURAGE A LOVE OF READING IN

CHILDREN INCLUDING THOSE WITH READING DIFFICULTIES

• 83.7% of parents interviewed said their children displayed more enthusiasm for reading than before they joined SRP

• 84.6% of BSC/SRC participants said they liked to read more than before they joined

• 81.8% of TRC participants said that one of their top two reasons for joining the TRC was that is nurtured their love of reading

• 89.1% of Reading Buddies participants said they liked to read more since joining the program

GOAL 1 (cont’d)

• 81.8% of Reading Buddies volunteers reported positive changes in their buddy’s attitude towards books and reading over the course of the program

• By consensus, 100% of new Canadians agreed that visiting the library and participating in programs like the SRP helped children learn to love reading

• 85.7% of educators said they believed/had observed that SRP participation improves children’s enthusiasm toward books and reading

• 91.7% of SLWs said they noticed a positive change in the attitudes of most SRP participants toward books and reading over the course of the summer

TESTIMONIALS

“I never used to read hardly at all because I thought it wasboring and hard, but now I love it.”Reading Buddies Participant, Central Library

“My kid is more excited to read now. He doesn’t just say‘reading is boring’ like when he first came. He sees thatsome books are funny or interesting and he actually wantsto read them.Reading Buddies Volunteer, Central Library

“This program fosters a love of reading that lasts alifetime.”Participant Parent, Ancaster Branch

GOAL 2ASSIST INTERESTED CHILDREN IN MAINTAINING THEIR

READING LEVEL OVER THE SUMMER

• 89.4% of parents said they witnessed literacymaintenance or improvement in their children that theyattribute to SRP participation

• 95.5% of TRC participants said that they believe programparticipation maintains or improves their literacy skills and provides them with an academic advantage over theirclassmates who do not participate

• 95.7% of Reading Buddies participants said they believedthat participating in the program made them better readers or kept up their skills over the summer

GOAL 2 (cont’d)

• 83.0% of Reading Buddies volunteers said they hadwitnessed not only maintenance but perceptibleimprovement in the skills of the children they worked with

• By consensus, 100% of new Canadians agreed thatvisiting the library and attending programs like the SRP isvery important to helping children to not only maintain but improve their literacy skills in English

• 100% of Summer Literacy Workers reported witnessingmaintenance or improvement of literacy skills in almost all children who joined the program and continued toparticipate throughout the summer

TESTIMONIALS

“I think the program definitely makes a difference in theirskills. My kids always go back to school reading at least aswell as they did when they left.”Participant Parent, Barton Branch

“This program helped my reading get better. My teachereven noticed!”Reading Buddies Participant, Terryberry Branch

“I work with students at different grade levels, so I’ll oftensee the same ones several years in a row. Every fall, thereis a definite difference in skills between those who haveread and visited the library over the summer and those whohave not.”Educator, Hamilton Wentworth District School Board

ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE

• Many studies have been conducted throughout Canada and the United States in which standardized test were used to measure student literacy scores before and after SRP participation

• Results of the majority of these studies (Heyns, Carter, Howes, Robbins and Thompson, Markey, Doleman, etc.) prove that SRP participants show increases in post-test literacy scores while the scores of children who do not read over the summer typically decline

ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE (cont’d)

• Although this study did not involve a pre-test post-test component, results of other studies are transferable to HPL context because:

• HPL’s SRP operates according to the same ‘read and report’ style as the programs involved in these studies and is actually more rigorous than most about ensuring that children are actually reading

• Standardized tests used in studies are frequently ones that have been used in Hamilton schools, eliminating the possibility of area bias

GOAL 3IMPROVE CHILDREN’S ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE ABOUT

LITERATURE VIA ORAL AND WRITTEN REPORTS

• 90.1% of parents said their children have become more willing/able to communicate about what they read since joining the SRP

• 73.9% of Reading Buddies participants said that they talk more about what they read as a result of being in the program

• 88.7% of Reading Buddies volunteers said the children they worked with become more willing/better able to talk about their books over the course of the program

GOAL 3 (cont’d)

• 77.1% of teachers surveyed said that they believed SRP participation helped children become better able to communicate about what they read

• By consensus, 100% of new Canadians agreed that library programs including the SRP improve the English communication abilities of ESL children, not only in literature but in general

• 100% of SLWs said that they observed improvements in the literature-related communication abilities of SRP participants over the course of the summer

• 71.5% of Branch Managers and 84.7% of library staff said that in their experience, children who participate in the SRP do become better able to communicate about what they are reading

TESTIMONIALS

“It’s kind of funny: at first I could hardly get him to talk atall other than reading the words. Now we get intodiscussions about different characters or what’s happeningin the story and sometimes they go on for so long that heforgets to read or we both forget where we were!”Reading Buddies Volunteer, Terryberry Branch

“Kids are excited and want to share their reading and thisprogram opens the door to parental encouragement,communication about books and so on.”Participant Parent, Mount Hope Branch

“The forms need more lines to write on. Some people liketo write a lot!”Teen Reading Club Participant, Central Library

GOAL 4IMPROVE STAFF KNOWLEDGE OF CHILDREN’S

READING INTERESTS

• 66.7% of branch managers surveyed said that their own knowledge of children’s reading interests has been improved significantly by managing a branch in which the SRP is operating. 84.3% said that they believed that SRP involvement has a discernable impact on their staff’s knowledge of children’s reading interests over and above their regular library work

• 65.4% of full-time youth services staff surveyed said that they thought SRP involvement had a discernable impact on their knowledge of children’s reading interests over and above their regular library work

GOAL 4 (cont’d)

• 100% of Summer Literacy Workers surveyed said that they thought that SRP involvement has improved their knowledge of children’s literature and reading interests

TESTIMONIALS

“Not only this year, but over the past three years (of being aSummer Literacy Worker) my understanding of children’sreading interests has greatly changed and expanded. I nowhave a greater understanding of what they like and why.”Summer Literacy Worker

“I think that I already had a good understanding ofchildren’s reading interests before I began this job, but Ihave been introduced to many other books and series ofbooks through SRC reporting.”Summer Literacy Worker

A FEW OTHER INDICATORS OF PROGRAM SUCCESS

• Program enrolment has increased steadily over the last five years, with many children returning year after year

• 97.5% of SRC/SBC participants who had joined the program in previous years said that the quality of the SRP is as good or better now than in previous years

• 100% of parents interviewed agreed that the program has both educational and recreational benefits for a their children and many mentioned other benefits as well, including improving their confidence and self-esteem and facilitating rich and positive social interactions

• 98.6% of educators believe that the program is valuable enough that they either do or plan to recommend it to their students

INDICATORS (cont’d)

• 95.5% of eligible Summer Literacy Workers said that their experience in day-to-day running of the program at the various branches was so positive that they would definitely consider coming back to the job next summer

MORE STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK

“This is a wonderful program. It has contributed to thereading skills of our children and truly inspired a love ofreading skills in our children and truly inspired a love of reading in our family that I believe will last a lifetime. All ourchildren have done it and the older ones look back on itfondly.”Participant Parent, Terryberry Branch

“I love this club and I just want to say to everyone at thelibrary ‘you’re the best!’”TRC Participant, Westdale Branch

“The program here is beautiful. It is beautiful. I like it a lot!”New Canadian, Red Hill Branch

FEEDBACK (cont’d)

“I have learned more from this job/experience than anyother job or university course I’ve ever taken. Working witha vast array of children, parents and teenagers all at oncehas been extremely challenging – but also rewarding…I’vedeveloped some great relationships and made connectionswith some wonderful people both young and old.”Summer Literacy Worker

OVERALL

Based on the responses of participants, there is everyreason to believe that HPL’s Summer Reading Program isvery successful in meeting the goals it has set for itself andis a very valuable program in the eyes of its stakeholders.

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

While the primary purpose of the study was to evaluate theSummer Reading Program in terms of its success inmeeting its goals, there were many other things to belearned from the data collected.

OTHER OFTEN-CITED POSITIVE OUTCOMES OF THE SRP

While increasing the amount of reading children do is notan explicit goal of the SRP, this study found that:• 81.6% of parents said their children are reading more as a

result of participating in the SRP than they would otherwise read over the summer

• 63.6% of teens also indicated that they read more as a result of TRC participation

Likewise, while increasing children’s creativity is not aprimary goal of the program, it was found that:• 64.5% of parents said that they believe the SRP

contribution to the development of their child’s creativity and imagination

• 54.3% of teachers observed these contributions

NEW CANADIANS’ UNIQUE USES OF THE LIBRARY

Many newcomers involved in the study described thelibrary in very unique ways.

The library as a safe environment in which adults andchildren alike can practice their English skills without fearof ridicule.

“We all come to the library to work on communication. Aswe communicate we practise English. It is a friendly placeto practise…and we don’t feel embarrassed and peopledon’t treat you like you’re so different from them.”

UNIQUE USES (cont’d)

Library resources as tools to retain their traditional culturesand languages even as they adapt to life in Canada.

“We started taking out the language kits for my son. Afterhe saw them, his grandfather also was interested in them. Now, (he and his grandfather) use the kits together topractise English but also read in our own language.”

SRP PARTICIPANTS’ OTHER LIBRARY USES

Children in HPL’s SRP/SBC are also using the library forother reasons. Of the 260 children interviewed, 259reported other uses of the library in addition to SRP relatedactivities.• 93.1% take out books or other items• 56.2% attend programs year-round• 36.9% use library computers• 5.0% do homework at the library• 7.8% come to the library to meet or

hang out with friends• 7.8% come to the library for other reasons,

including to read quietly and to play with toys

ADVERTISING

School visits are the most effective way of advertising theprogram to children.• 54.2% of children in the SBC/SRC and 45.7% in Reading

Buddies reported learning about the program this way

In-library ads (posters, flyers) are the most effective way ofadvertising the program to teens and adults.• 55.3% of parents reported learning about the program

this way• 40.9% of TRC participants reported learning about the

program this way

INCENTIVES

Incentive prizes were felt to be important and werepositively regarded by most respondents.

• 85.8% of parents said that the SRP prizes have a motivating impact on their children when it comes to reading over the summer. In another question, 99.3% said they were satisfied with HPL’s prizes this summer

• 52.7% of SBC/SRC participants (including 58.0% of boys and 48.2% of girls) said that getting the prizes was their favourite part of being in the SRP

• 81.8% of teens said the prizes this year were great

INCENTIVES (cont’d)

• 81.8% of Reading Buddies volunteers said that the prizes were important motivators for the children they worked with

• 100% of Summer Literacy Workers surveyed said that prizes were motivating for the majority of children at their branch

BENEFITS OF CONDUCTING THIS TYPE OF RESEARCH

• Ensure that the SRP is meeting the goals of the library has set for it

• Connect with the community and ensure that the SRP is meeting the needs of its stakeholders

• Learn about the program and the library itself through the eyes of different patron groups

• Discover new questions that are worthy of further research

• Make recommendations to board, sponsors, etc. based on findings

STEPS IN CONDUCTING YOUR OWN SRP STUDY

• Establish program goals (measurable outcomes)• Determine the parameters of your study, i.e. how

much time and money can you devote it

• Determine who you would like to involve in the study – which stakeholder groups – and what your intended data collection methods will be

• Contact representatives of these stakeholder groups to inform them of the study and request their involvement

• Determine what procedures may be involved in obtaining permission to involve each group and complete any required paperwork, i.e. ethics approval packages, parental consent forms, etc.

STEPS (cont’d)• Compose your data collection instruments• Collect your data according to the methods you have

selected and offer participants a chance to view the results of the study when it is complete

• Organize and analyze your data in a way that makes sense for your purposes (significance testing, for example, was not required for the descriptive statistical data in this study)

• Compose final report(s) for your audience(s)• Ensure that copies of relevant reports are forwarded to

any parties who helped organize or fund the study and to any participants who indicated interest in viewing the results

CONCLUDING REMARKS

This study has shown that the Summer Reading Program atthe Hamilton Public Library is effective in meeting its goals.

THANK YOU

Any questions?