Erin Birdsong 0:00

Things like decoding and letter knowledge and word reading skills are super susceptible to this loss without frequent practice, right? So you think about those age groups that are just learning to read or learning to become more proficient in reading. It's the kind of skill that just takes practice.

Erin Birdsong 0:17

So that's really what happens is that when we are not constantly practicing, we lose those skills. So without reading during the summer, kids can lose up to 20% of the proficiency that they made throughout the school year. So that's what we're you know trying to prevent happen. This is just fun. [lofi music plays]

Lara Griffin 0:46

Welcome to the Rockford Public Library Podcast. I'm Lara Griffin and your host today. So we're gonna be talking about RPL's most exciting tradition, the Summer Reading Challenge. So each summer, kids, teens, and adults across Rockford are invited to take part on a literary adventure, all while earning rewards, discovering new stories, and staying sharp during the summer break.

Lara Griffin 1:11

Whether you're a young reader chasing your first chapter book, a teen diving into graphic novels, or an adult finally checking off that to-be-read-list, the Summer Reading Challenge has something for everyone. So today we have Erin Birdsong, and she is heading up the Summer Reading Challenge program. So, Erin, would you introduce yourself?

Erin Birdsong 1:35

Soure. S I am Erin Birdsong. I am the Youth Services Manager here at RPL.

Lara Griffin 1:41

So, Erin, what excites you most about this year's Summer Reading Challenge?

Erin Birdsong 1:46

I think we have a really great theme this year. It's pretty open-ended. So there's gonna be a lot of programming opportunities to do a lot of cool things for all of the age groups. So I'm pretty excited about that.

Lara Griffin 1:58

So, what is the theme this year?

Erin Birdsong 2:01

It is Level Up at Your Library. So it's a little bit of a gaming theme, but again, it's open-ended. So that could be physical games, that could be board games, card games, as well as video games. So we're gonna have programs again, for all ages that incorporate those kinds of things. So we will have gaming programs. I think we're gonna have a Mario Kart tournament for teens, but there will also be a program where you can make a giant memory game for the younger kids, and we will have a board game extravaganza. So there's just a lot of different things that we could do with it.

Lara Griffin 2:37

So when does registration begin and how can community members sign up?

Erin Birdsong 2:45

So the Summer Reading Challenge itself kicks off on May 31st, and you can register in person. We will have our big kickoff party that Saturday from 10 to 1 here at the downtown main location. So you can register in person at that event, or you can also go to our website to register online using the BeanStack app. We've used that app to track reading for years, so it's likely that people might already be familiar with it. But it's super easy to sign up that way, or you can just come and do it in person.

Lara Griffin 3:22

So what age groups can participate?

Erin Birdsong 3:25

Summer reading is all ages, so that is birth to 120, like everybody can participate. We do have three different tracks for that. So there's a birth through twelve challenge as well as a teens challenge and then an adults challenge. We have a lot of great prizes for the different age groups as well, including adults, so this is really for everyone.

Lara Griffin 3:49

And how do people record on Beanstack? Is it like recording per hour, per page? How do people... like what counts?

Erin Birdsong 4:02

The way that Beanstack works is you can track that either way you want to, just depending on your own preferences. But for the purpose of participating in our Summer Reading Challenge, we do it by minutes. You track how many minutes you read each day, and that's what you're working towards is your minute goal for our challenge.

Lara Griffin 4:24

And are there prizes along the way, or is it just all at the end?

Erin Birdsong 4:30

All along the way, because we really want everybody participating all summer. So there are incentives to do that all the way through. So when you register, we'll have our summer reading t-shirt giveaways. The way that we've broken it up is there's a 500-minute goal for each month. So in June, you read 500 minutes and then you get a free book. There's also food coupons . Again in July, you read 500 more minutes. There's another book that you get for free.

Erin Birdsong 5:03

Previously, we had done you get one free book at the end of the summer. We are increasing that so that kids and teens can get potentially three books, can earn three books throughout the summer to keep and kind of build your home library. So again, the same thing. You have half of August to do the same thing. So the goal is to get 1,500 minutes read throughout the whole summer. And then at the finish of that, we have a lot of cool grand prizes that you can enter to win.

Erin Birdsong 5:37

So when you have completed all of your reading goals, you'll get entered to win in a drawing for... we have Kindle Fires, we have a Nintendo Switch, we've got a couple of um Ocean VR headsets, and a ton of local restaurant coupons and things for adults as well, including Maze Books and just a lot of really cool local businesses supported us in this effort. So we are excited.

Lara Griffin 6:10

That's awesome. I've had my kids participate and I love it because it helps them to keep track during the summer. Every year I'd sign them up, and I love that we do give a book to them, and they get to choose. I love last year's books too. One of my favorites is Mexikid, I think that's what it's called. And my youngest daughter enjoyed reading that. So it's really fun.

Lara Griffin 6:41

I love... like it's a great challenge for kids, and it keeps them on track during the summer. There's this thing called summer slide. Would you share about that? Like what SummerSlide is? And I know it's a thing like a lot of teachers at the end of the year are kind of concerned about because it's like, okay, what's gonna happen over the next few months for kids when they're not in school and they don't have that routine of reading?

Erin Birdsong 7:16

For sure, yeah. So the summer slide is kind of what happens when kids don't read over the summer, right? So they lose some of that progress that they have made during the school year. And specifically younger kids are prone to the most learning loss because they are still at like the crucial stage of their development. So I'm gonna quote Dr. James Kent real quick about this.

Erin Birdsong 7:39

But things like decoding and letter knowledge and word reading skills are super susceptible to this loss without frequent practice, right? So you think about those age groups that are just learning to read or learning to become more proficient in reading, it's the kind of skill that just takes practice. So that's really what happens is that when we are not constantly practicing, we lose those skills. So without reading during the summer, kids can lose up to 20 percent of the proficiency that they made throughout the school year. So that's why we're you know trying to prevent happen. It's just fun to participate.

Lara Griffin 8:17

Yeah. And I love that it's the whole community that can be a part, it's something as a group that we can all be a part of, and it doesn't matter your age.

Erin Birdsong 8:28

Right.

Lara Griffin 8:29

So what are some other benefits that you think participants gain from the program?

Erin Birdsong 8:36

So in addition to combating summer slide, I think it's also just a great opportunity for kids and adults alike, really, to kind of explore in like a low-stakes reading situation. So this isn't, you know, books that you've been told you have to read. This isn't, you know, things you have to check off the list for school. Like this is really in a time to explore different genres, explore different things as well as coming into the library for the different physical programs that we have for all of these age groups. So there's just there's a lot of ways to participate in it.

Lara Griffin 9:09

No, that's great. I love the idea of trying out different genres of books because it really expands your neuroplasticity. There it goes. There it is. [both laugh]

Erin Birdsong 9:24

That's also too one of the like most important parts that I think you know, parents and caregivers really need to understand about reading in general, but summer reading especially is, you know, this is the time to let kids read what they want, like really anytime it's necessary to let them read what they want. But you know kids aren't going to gain as much from the summer reading if they aren't truly enjoying it, right?

Erin Birdsong 9:50

So we're trying to engage them. We want them to read, you know, whatever graphic novel looks good to them, whatever series book, you know, based off a TV show or something that they like. It really doesn't matter. This does not need to be like academic reading. Any reading is perfect and beneficial.

Lara Griffin 10:10

Yeah, I've noticed at least with my kids, they can start out... I'll be like, here, just read five minutes, and then they'll just want to keep going, which is awesome. It's just to get them started, and then they'll decide if they want to keep going. And if they don't like the book, they can try a different one.

Erin Birdsong 10:29

For sure. And I think I love that you mentioned you know, five minutes specifically. So the goal that we set for our summer reading challenge is 20 minutes a day. And one of the reasons, there's a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons for that is because it it feels doable, right? That feels digestible. So like talking about starting with five minutes. Even if you did five minutes in the morning, five minutes in the afternoon, it adds up. But the benefits of reading 20 minutes a day um in addition to just feeling manageable. I'm gonna read some statistics for this.

Lara Griffin 11:04

I would love it. I love statistics.

Erin Birdsong 11:06

So children who read 20 minutes a day, five days a week, are exposed to 1.8 million words in one school year. So if you compare that to students who read five minutes a day, they'll be exposed to 282,000 words per school year. In addition to the academic things that we're talking about, reading in general is so beneficial for kids... for everybody, but for kids too, in helping foster empathy, you know, this is how a child starts learning to, you know, walk in someone else's shoes and you know learn about other people's experiences. So you know, this is how we get exposed to different ideas and cultures.

Erin Birdsong 11:48

It improves our critical thinking. Of course, there's an increase in knowledge of, you know, syntax and grammar and along with the vocabulary, and which in turn also improves our writing skills. So like, you know, 20 minutes a day is doable, but it also is really significant in the amount of progress that you can make because this also... back to statistics. Students who read 20 minutes per day score significantly higher on standardized tests of reading. So there's a lot of benefits to reading 20 minutes a day, and also it is fairly reasonable to fit into your daily schedule.

Lara Griffin 12:26

Yeah, and I like the idea of trying to form a habit, like one of those things that as... if you can just put in five minutes, you can add a little bit more, or you know, but it's one of those things if you keep on doing it for at least a couple weeks, you'll start to miss it if you don't have it.

Erin Birdsong 12:47

For sure. And it's also such an opportunity to, you know, do these things as a family. This doesn't mean that you, you know, your kid needs to go sit down and read for 20 minutes by themselves. This includes audiobooks, this includes reading together, reading aloud, bedtime stories, all of this counts.

Lara Griffin 13:02

One of my favorite books, I forget the name, but with my kids when they couldn't read yet, are the ones with just pictures and you create the story yourself as you turn the page and you're just looking at the art and the pictures that are describing a story, and you can use your voice in any way and create the characters yourself. And I think there's a lot of creativity that can be added, or as a parent, you can do with your child.

Erin Birdsong 13:36

Yeah, imagination is a huge part of it.

Lara Griffin 13:38

Mm-hmm. For sure. And then, you know, you've been in libraries for many years. So is there a memorable story that you have of a summer reading challenge that you'd want to share?

Erin Birdsong 13:54

Too many, probably. But actually, you know, I have been you know, a children's librarian for 11 years, and this is the 12th year is my first year here at Rockford. So I'm actually gonna use an example from one of the Youth Services Staff here at RPL because I think this is like so meaningful and cool that there are several staff members here that attended the summer reading challenges at this library when they were young.

Lara Griffin 14:27

Wow.

Erin Birdsong 14:27

And I think that that's just so cool because you never really know like what kind of impact you're making on kids in general. But the fact that there are staff members who remember coming to RPL as children and participating, they still remember some of the other staff members that still work here. That just, you know, you're creating these kinds of bonds and this love for reading and this love for libraries that can end up having like a lifelong effect. Because here they are, you know, these years later still working here and now they are getting to help planning summer reading for the kids of today. So I love that.

Lara Griffin 15:04

Yeah, I love that it's like this multiplier, this effect where yeah, where this generation will come back and maybe the next librarian. So...

Erin Birdsong 15:17

Yeah. That's one of the things I love about children's librarianship in particular is because you are creating lifelong learners and lifelong library lovers. And I think that's why it's so important to really instill that love of reading at this young age because you're creating that for life.

Lara Griffin 15:37

For sure. Well that's awesome. Thank you so much, Erin, for being with us. Can you remind us of the kickoff date? And also when do people need to be done? When does it end?

Erin Birdsong 15:53

Sure. So the kickoff party again will be May 31st from 10 to 1 at the main branch downtown. That's gonna be a super fun where we'll have a bouncy house and a DJ and balloon animals. It's a whole just exciting party to kick off the summer that we're super excited about. And again, that's when you can register in person. One of the things that I'm excited about this year is that we are bringing back paper logs.

Lara Griffin 16:20

Ooh.

Erin Birdsong 16:21

So we're still using BeanStack, and if you prefer to track your reading or or your kiddo's reading through the app, perfect. But if you would like to have your child baby participation in keeping track of the books that they read and logging all of those minutes themselves, doing it together. So we're gonna bring back the paper this year so that you have multiple ways of keeping track of this, whichever one you prefer.

Erin Birdsong 16:51

So May 31st, we'll get that started, and then we will have a full summer of programs and reading goals and prizes, and then we will have our finale event on August 16th. And that is when we will have our hired magician friend come back out. The finale event is actually gonna be at the Nordlof Center, also downtown. So yeah, you've got until May 31st to August 16th to read all that you can and want to.

Lara Griffin 17:26

Awesome. And so, do you have to come to the kickoff event to register or to participate, or you can just do it online?

Erin Birdsong 17:35

Yeah, you can do it online. If you can't make it to the kickoff that's totally okay. You can go really at any point to any of the branches, whether that's you know, downtown East, Montague, mobile, you can do it in person, or you can go through our website. So rockfordpubliclibrary.org. You're gonna see you know a big banner right on the website talking about summer reading because we're super excited about it. So there will be links. You will be able to find it online.

Lara Griffin 18:02

So Okay, awesome. Well, thanks again for coming in, and we're so excited for the Summer Reading Challenge. And I know my kiddos are gonna enjoy this summer with lots of books. They can't help it [laughs] since I work here. But yeah, so thank you again, and we'll be back again with another podcast guest. We're not sure who, [both laugh] but yeah. [lofi music plays]

Erin Birdsong 18:31

Thanks for having me. I'll see you guys this summer.

Lara Griffin 18:34

Okay, sounds good.