Erin Birdsong 0:00

And that success just looks like not only that, hopefully your kiddo had fun, and hopefully you enjoyed the programs and enjoyed some of the stories that you read over the summer, but ultimately the biggest goal of summer reading is to combat summer slide. So hopefully, when your kids go back to school in August, their teachers are gonna tell you that they didn't they didn't lose anything from the year before, that they have maintained the reading level that they left with in May because they continued reading all summer.

Erin Birdsong 0:35

That's really that's why we do this. It's the biggest goal because if you stop, if they I mean just the two months, just June and July, if the kids don't read at all, they risk you know, losing months worth of the progress that they had made. [Lo-fi Music Plays]

Lara Griffin 0:59

So, welcome to the Rockford Public Library Podcast. I'm Lara, your host. With longer days and lighter evenings, there's just enough time to get lost in a really good book. And today's podcast is about spending your summer in a community-wide experience, the Rockford Public Library Summer Reading Challenge. Today I'm joined by Erin Birdsong, East Branch Manager, and she'll tell us how it works, why it matters, and how you can be part of it. Welcome, Erin.

Erin Birdsong 1:32

Thank you.

Lara Griffin 1:33

So, Erin, before we get into the challenge, what's a book or story that stuck with you growing up?

Erin Birdsong 1:41

I remember being in fourth grade and really enjoying Shell Subroutine. But like specifically because my teachers would read it out loud to us as a class. So even in fourth grade, reading out loud is so good. And I remember liking Maniac McGee and Freak the Mighty, which is ironic because when we give those books away as prizes, these days the kids are not interested, but they should really give it a try because I really like that.

Lara Griffin 2:16

Oh, Shel Silverstein just brings back such a memory, and all I can like the first thought was like about this cut-out circle with a missing angle, the triangle that trying to connect.

Erin Birdsong 2:34

Yeah.

Lara Griffin 2:35

And just the what you said about reading out loud. I remember like as a third, like I don't know what it is, but third grade teachers just always are a memory. And so my third grade teacher would read The Chronicles of Narnia, and I was just like, I could like just sitting there hearing the teacher read, I could visually see going into a closet and seeing a different world.

Erin Birdsong 3:10

Yeah. Now that you bring that up, I remember that too, actually. My yeah, they read that out loud too.

Lara Griffin 3:15

Yeah. So what do you love most about summer at the library?

Erin Birdsong 3:19

I'm gonna have to say the programming. Obviously the summer reading challenge is my favorite part of summer, but specifically within the challenge, the opportunity to do really in-depth and just different kind of programming than we have the time to do during the school year. So we get to really focus on specific age groups and just make sure there's a lot of really cool stuff going on all summer for all the age groups. So I think the programming is probably my favorite part.

Lara Griffin 3:51

And so for someone who's brand new, what is the summer reading challenge?

Erin Birdsong 3:56

The summer reading challenge is essentially the opportunity to get rewarded for what you're already doing. You know, hopefully you are reading throughout the year anyway. Your kiddos definitely are. They have to do it for school, and they often have summer reading projects that they're assigned with school as well. So, you know, you have to be reading for that anyway, so you might as well get rewarded for it.

Erin Birdsong 4:20

But it's also just the opportunity to meet new people at the library, especially like the programs I was just talking about. We have adults only, you know, programming as well. That's a lot of fun. Yeah, it's just the opportunity to come in and meet other people who also enjoy reading. Or maybe even just to encourage you to you know, pick it back up.

Lara Griffin 4:43

So tell us more about the summer reading challenge and its theme.

Erin Birdsong 4:48

So the theme this summer is unearth a story. It is a lot of dinosaur themes, although not just dinosaur, it can be , you know, archaeology, excavation, it can be a lot of different things. You're unearthing a story, whatever that means to you. Although a lot of our decorations and themes will be around the dinosaurs because that's just so popular. The kids love it, and it gives us the opportunity to really tackle a lot of different things, art-wise, but also science-wise and history-wise. So there's a lot that we can do with that.

Erin Birdsong 5:22

And as a super fun thing to get ready for summer reading, the week before summer reading, we have the book character costume coming of the dinosaur from how to dinosaurs say goodnight. So that entire Jane Nolan series, How to Dinosaurs Go to the Library, How Do Dinosaurs, you know, all of the things. There's a lot of books in that series. So that's really exciting because we are going to have the T-Rex from How to Dinosaurs Say Goodnight visiting every branch this year starting on May 11th. So the week of May 11th, there will be a dinosaur visiting every branch of RPL, including the mobile. So yeah, we're really excited about that.

Lara Griffin 6:09

That's awesome. And I and it's gonna be for the mobile, it's gonna be at Anderson Gardens. Correct. Which is probably my favorite stop for the mobile.

Erin Birdsong 6:18

Yep.

Lara Griffin 6:19

So when it when a child or a teen signs up for the summer reading challenge, um, what counts as reading? Um what if a child isn't confident as a reader yet?

Erin Birdsong 6:32

Like, how how does a summer reading challenge work for them? Everything counts as reading, and this program is designed for you know birth through 120. So reading out loud counts. If you're reading to your child, that counts. Listening to audiobooks, that counts. Comic books, graphic novels, magazines, newspapers, all of it. All of it counts. So teens and kids can look forward to getting the free t-shirt, of course, every summer for the theme. So you register, you get a free t-shirt.

Erin Birdsong 7:10

And then we also have the reading logs. We have paper reading logs that the kiddos can keep track of their reading for each day. So the goal is to read at least 20 minutes a day. 20 minutes a day for 25 days will get you 500 minutes. Oh nice. 500 minutes is when you start earning prizes. So at 500 minutes read, you come get your your first prizes. So that'll be some free coupons for local business or restaurants around Rockford, as well as the free book.

Erin Birdsong 7:45

So each time you come to claim a prize, which would be every 500 minutes, you get another three or yeah, so total of three books throughout the summer that you get to choose and pick and keep forever. We'll also have some different raffles and grand prizes and things. We're not, We're not telling everybody exactly what it is yet. But I can promise it'll be it'll be a lot of fun. So

Lara Griffin 8:12

And so by the end of the summer they'll have read 1500 minutes, is that the aim?

Erin Birdsong 8:17

Probably more, honestly, because you know, 20 minutes a day, you know, you can knock that out before breakfast. Yeah. So you I mean, honestly, if you read if you read 20 minutes a day every day for the entire summer reading challenge, yeah, you would read over what is required.

Lara Griffin 8:35

Yeah.

Erin Birdsong 8:35

So it's it's super reasonable.

Lara Griffin 8:38

And so what do you think parents notice by the end of summer for those for their kids that have participated in the summer reading challenge?

Erin Birdsong 8:49

Hopefully, you know, they notice that their kids are more excited about reading. Hopefully during the summer, you know, we really want to encourage kids to read whatever they're interested in. This is not the time for, you know, reading your academic novels. This is the time to pick up that graphic novel. This is the time to just explore all the different topics, and in that you can kind of reignite, you know, your love for reading if you have lost it. So hopefully that's what parents are noticing is that they're excited about reading again, that it doesn't feel like, you know, a chore.

Lara Griffin 9:31

Yeah. And on another note, like what you were saying about the prizes, like that they get to choose a book. Like last year, my kid, my she was one of my kids, because I can't, I won't name her. [Laughter] If she hears it, she's mad at me. But she was not a reader. And through picking out a book, she found a book that she liked and then decided to read the whole series on her own.

Erin Birdsong 10:02

That's awesome.

Lara Griffin 10:02

And so I just love that the prizes, the when you choose your book, you get to choose your book. You get to look at it and you get to pick which one, look through all the the stacks, the shelves of books. There's a lot of books.

Erin Birdsong 10:19

There are.

Lara Griffin 10:20

Yeah. And they're like contemporary, they're really fun, and I love the graphics on them. So yes.

Erin Birdsong 10:29

Good. I'm so glad you said that because we definitely always want to try it back. The point is literacy, right? The point is reading. So while we are incentivizing something they should be doing anyway, we're incentivizing it with more reading. And yeah, and I do I order those books intentionally. I'm looking at what's popular, I'm paying attention to what, you know, the kids are always pulling off the shelf.

Erin Birdsong 10:56

And so those are the things that I'm trying to order so that they do get to choose books that they really want. And then they're building their home library as well. And you know, the public library will always be here. Please come and get more books. But also, it's important to have just books around. It's important to have , you know, a literature-rich environment for your kids. So I want to help you build that library.

Lara Griffin 11:17

Yeah. So can you talk more about what a home library is? Like, or...

Erin Birdsong 11:24

That is not on the list, Lara. [Laughter]

Lara Griffin 11:28

How do you build a home library?

Erin Birdsong 11:34

So I think like technically, to be a library, it has to have like a hundred books or something. But that's not the that's not the point. Like a literacy-rich environment is just having print around your house all the time. And that can be, you know, your bookshelves full of your adult books, it can be, you know, magazines on the table. If you're really snazzy, you can and have a really little one, you could be this is like putting the alphabet at child height where they can see it as around the house and things like that where just the fact that you have books in your home statistically makes a difference as far as the success of your children's reading ability.

Lara Griffin 12:15

Yeah.

Erin Birdsong 12:15

So that's what we're talking about. Is just just get as as many reading materials in there as you can.

Lara Griffin 12:20

Just making it like more accessible?

Erin Birdsong 12:22

Right. And also, you know, modeling it. Kids who see their parents read are far more likely to read. Parents are who yeah, parents who read for pleasure and you know, let your kids see you just sitting down with a good book just because you enjoy it, like that is going to turn them into kids that really like reading because they understand the inherent worth in it because you're modeling that for them.

Lara Griffin 12:46

Yeah. I have to say I am like a audio book reader. And so the funny thing is another child of mine [Laughter] is pretty much addicted to Hoopla and will always be reading a book. Like it's always in her ear, and sometimes it's like she'll be like, Can I put the speaker in the shower? So she's reading. She's listening to a book. So or like while she's in the shower, she's listening to a book.

Erin Birdsong 13:19

I love that, and that's such a good point. That like, think about all of those minutes being logged. Right? Because your audiobook, I mean, that's the kind of thing you throw on when you could be, you know, doing the dishes or your kiddos can put on. Definitely if you guys are going on vacation this summer, you're taking a long car drive, Hoopla, Cloud Library, they're just such great resources to use with your library card through the digital resources that we have available with Rockford Public Library. The audiobooks, not only do they count towards your summer reading, but they're it even just makes it easier to do because you're just listening while you go.

Lara Griffin 13:57

Yeah, it's like perfect for like adults whose schedules are so busy. I mean it and so it is like you're just like for me, I'm like washing the dishes, I'm picking up in the house, or just cleaning and I'm like in a book.

Erin Birdsong 14:14

And especially with a busy schedule, I love doing audiobooks on Hoopla and Cloud Library because they automatically return when they're due. So I don't have to worry about, oh gosh, I was gonna go out of town, but when is this book due? Like you don't have to worry about it. It will automatically return, and you won't have to worry about fees or anything like that.

Lara Griffin 14:30

Yep, that's true. That's great. So what happens when families do this together, when they read all together or participate in the summer reading challenge?

Erin Birdsong 14:43

I think that when families do this together, this is when you see not just more success as far as getting the kids to read. But I mean it's a bonding experience for the family. And we do set up this challenge to be all ages. So the goals that we have, they're the same for teens, they're the same for adults. So you're all working together to reach the same goal. And being able to come into the library together, claim your prizes. Yeah, you're just in you're again modeling.

Lara Griffin 15:15

Right.

Erin Birdsong 15:16

Modeling why this is fun and why it's important. And that success just looks like not only that, hopefully your kiddo had fun and hopefully you enjoyed the programs and enjoyed some of the stories that you read over the summer, but ultimately the biggest goal of summer reading is to combat summer slide. So hopefully, when your kids go back to school in August, their teachers are gonna tell you that they didn't they didn't lose anything from the year before, that they have maintained the reading level that they left with in May because they continued reading all summer.

Erin Birdsong 15:55

That's really that's why we do this. It's the biggest goal because if you stop, if they I mean just the two months, just June and July, if the kids don't read at all, they risk um, you know, losing months worth of the progress that they had made in their reading goals during the school year. So that's really the big focus. That's really what is success is did we keep the progress we had made in the school year before? Hopefully even maybe improve. But..

Lara Griffin 16:26

Yeah, I really love that for Rockford, that the library is a part of helping Rockford children move forward and to yeah, like how important literacy is in this day and age.

Erin Birdsong 16:42

For sure.

Lara Griffin 16:43

So when again, when does it start and how do people sign up?

Erin Birdsong 16:49

So our kickoff extravaganza will be on Saturday, May 16th. That is when actually pre-registration, if you come to in our any of the how do dinosaurs visit the library events, you can pre-register for the program at those. The challenge itself opens on Saturday, May 16th. We have the kickoff party here at the Bain Library downtown again this year. It's gonna be really exciting. We've got Zach Purcell coming, he's a magician, Chris Busker, he is the balloon animal artist. We had him last year, he was fantastic. Kona Ice will be there. United Way is doing a family book exchange this year.

Erin Birdsong 17:34

So you're probably used to seeing United Way at library events, giving away free books. We work with them a lot, we love that partnership. And this year they are taking it a little bit further, and they are hosting a book exchange. So it's recommended if you have any gently used books, birth through elementary is the recommendation. But yeah, you can come and do some tradesies with the other families. So they also will be giving out free books. If you don't have one to exchange, that's okay.

Lara Griffin 18:06

So if you're doing some spring cleaning, it's a great time to exchange those books.

Erin Birdsong 18:11

Yeah, it's a whole like take a book, leave a book situation. So that's gonna be a lot of fun. So definitely mark your calendars for the kickoff extravaganza.

Lara Griffin 18:21

And I do suggest get there early because the balloon artist line gets really long.

Erin Birdsong 18:27

That's true, that is true. So the event is from 10 to 12 on May 16th. The magician will be performing from 10 30 to 11:30, but everything else will be there for the entire duration. Uh the parks department will also be there. We're gonna have vendor tables with different community organizations focused on families and children specifically, so it's gonna be a great time.

Lara Griffin 18:51

Awesome. So before we wrap up, is there anything that we may have missed or that you feel that is important that we didn't get to talk about today?

Erin Birdsong 19:02

Some folks might notice that summer reading is happening earlier this year. That's definitely is a big change. And that's because RPS 205 changed their calendar, they changed their school schedule, so now we get to start earlier and end earlier. So do keep that in mind that the challenge ends on August 8th because the kids return to school that following week.

Lara Griffin 19:26

Okay.

Erin Birdsong 19:26

So they go back early this year, so we're gonna get started early. So we still have our full like 12 weeks, I want to say, of summer reading challenge and all of the programs.

Lara Griffin 19:38

Okay. And also adults do get prizes, right?

Erin Birdsong 19:42

Yeah. So I'm not gonna reveal what it is yet, but we are switching it up a little bit this year. In the past, adults, all of the adult prizes were raffle prizes, so you weren't guaranteed anything as an adult. And so right now we're working on what's that gonna look like for this year with giving adults something. So we don't know yet if it's gonna be well, I'm not even gonna tell you. I'm not even gonna tell you what we're looking at.

Erin Birdsong 20:07

There but there will be a prize for adults this year because I really want, I think there's a the focus tends to be on kids.

Lara Griffin 20:17

Right.

Erin Birdsong 20:18

For summer reading, but it really is an all-ages challenge. It really, really is meant to be engaging and exciting for everybody. So this year I wanted to make sure that the adults felt like they were special too. Because it's important to your mental health too. Like

Lara Griffin 20:36

Absolutely.

Erin Birdsong 20:37

Especially, you know, whether it's fiction, nonfiction, it doesn't matter. It's important for all of us to be reading more these days.

Lara Griffin 20:46

Awesome. Thanks so much, Erin. We're so glad to have you here with us today.

Erin Birdsong 20:51

Thanks for having me.

Lara Griffin 20:52

So be sure to come to the Summer Reading Challenge Extravaganza on May 16th. That's a Saturday. It starts at 10 a.m. Sign up, sign up, Rockford. Let's read together. Check out that book that you've had on your to be read list, and let's get reading. [Lo-fi Music Plays]