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Oregon Summer Reading
Summer Reading Manuals
Oregon is a member of the national Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) which develops the summer reading program manual, and works with a vendor to provide high quality art for promotional materials and incentives.  The State Library and the Oregon Library Association partner together to provide summer reading resources to libraries in Oregon.  The State Library uses Library Services and Technology Act funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to pay the CSLP membership fees and purchase summer reading manuals for 230 public, volunteer, and tribal libraries in Oregon. The Oregon Library Association’s Children’s Services Division (CSD) distributes the manuals, and both CSD and the Oregon Young Adult Network (OYAN) present summer reading workshops.
 
Please contact one of Oregon's CSLP representatives for more information:
 
CSD Summer Reading Club Chair  
OYAN Collaborative Summer Reading Chair 
Katie Anderson (503-378-2528) Youth Services Consultant at the Oregon State Library

 
Think Big Save for College

In 2010 the Oregon State Library, Oregon Library Association, and Oregon College Savings Plan partnered together to launch a program in conjunction with the statewide summer reading program.  The program encourages parents, grandparents, and legal guardians of children 0-18 years old to enter to win a $1,000 Oregon College Savings Plan. At the end of each summer up to 15 winners, three from each of Oregon's five congressional districts, will be selected in a random drawing. The libraries indicated on the winning entry forms will receive $500 for their next summer reading program. 
 
Every Fall all public libraries order program materials when they complete the annual summer reading statistics and ordering survey administered by the State Library. This is an optional component of the summer reading program, and individual libraries may use the program materials in whatever way works best with their local summer reading program.  Each year the name of the program will change to reflect the current summer reading program theme. 

The 2012 Think Big Save for College program winners were: 
 
  • Emily Hacking of Happy Valley, Clackamas County Library – Sunnyside Library
  • Paula Bruno of Happy Valley, Clackamas County Library – Sunnyside Library
  • Leanne Lai of Corvallis, Corvallis Benton County Public Library
  • Robert & Deborah Kontra of Corvallis, Corvallis Benton County Public Library
  • Taia Gelhaus of Albany, Corvallis Benton County Public Library
  • Tatiana Maldonado of Madras, Deschutes Public Library System – Redmond Library
  • Amy Thomas of Eugene, Eugene Public Library
  • Jeff Bodily of Burns, Harney County Library
  • Michele Morgan of Hillsboro, Hillsboro Main Library
  • Rosemarie Braden of Portland, Multnomah County Library – Sellwood-Moreland Library
  • Julie Sak of Boardman, Oregon Trail District – Boardman Library
  • Jessica Corio of Tualatin, Tualatin Public Library
  • Kariann Meyers, of West Linn, West Linn Public Library
 
Please check back in June 2013 to learn about the next program.
 
Summer Reading Certificates
In 2007 the Oregon Department of Education, Oregon State Library, and Oregon Library Association coordinated their efforts to create a joint Oregon Summer Reading Certificate with funding from the Oregon Education Association. The joint certificate has the national Collaborative Summer Library Program artwork on it and is signed by the State Librarian and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This effort signifies the commitment of schools and libraries to the education of Oregon’s youth.
 
For more information contact Katie Anderson (State Library) 503-378-2528 or Stephanie Parks  (Department of Education) 503-947-5621.

 
Certificate Criteria
To receive an Oregon Summer Reading Certificate one must:
  • Be 0-18 years old.
  • Live in Oregon.
  • Complete a local library's summer reading program or listen to and/or read 10 books over the summer.
Listening to books read aloud or an audiobook counts as reading a book.  Listening to books helps young children develop early literacy skills they need to have before they can learn to read.  Research shows that older children and teens who listen to books above their reading level learn new vocabulary necessary for improving their reading skills.

 
Hardcopies of Certificates

The 2012 summer reading program has ended.  Please check this site next June to order hardcopies of the 2013 Oregon Summer Reading Certificates.
 
For planning purposes, it may be useful to know that the 2013 statewide summer reading theme will be 'underground' and the slogans will be:

  • 'Dig Into Reading' for children
  • ‘Beneath the Surface’ for teens
  • 'Groundbreaking Reads’ for adults

Oregon public library staff are invited to design future summer reading certificates and submit them to be voted on by the larger school and library communities. Please contact Katie Anderson if you need more information about the certificate design contest. Those participating will need access to the Oregon state seal in color or black and white.

 
Download & Print Certificates
 
The 2012 summer reading program has ended.  Please check this site next June to download and print copies of the 2013 Oregon Summer Reading Certificates.
 
For planning purposes, it may be useful to know that the 2013 statewide summer reading theme will be 'underground' and the slogans will be:
  • 'Dig Into Reading' for children
  • ‘Beneath the Surface’ for teens
  • 'Groundbreaking Reads’ for adults

 

 
Oregon Summer Reading Briefs
Annual Summer Reading Briefs
In 2010 collection of summer reading statistics was transferred from the Oregon Library Association’s Children’s Services Division (CSD) to the State Library because the State Library is the organization responsible for reporting summer reading participation at the State level. Upon assuming responsibility for collecting summer reading statistics, the State Library began reporting the data to Oregon libraries and the Legislature via the annual Oregon Summer Reading Brief.

Annual Summer Reading Statistics Spreadsheet
In 2011, due to requests from libraries, the State Library began publishing the Oregon Summer Reading Statistics Spreadsheet which breaks down participation statistics by individual library and includes the estimated number of children 0-14 years old served by each library.  Libraries are encouraged to use this data to evaluate and set goals for their summer reading programs. 
  • 2012 Oregon Summer Reading Statistics Spreadsheet (download as a PDF or excel.xls)
  • 2011 Oregon Summer Reading Statistics Spreadsheet (download as a PDF or excel.xls)
 
Note: You will notice that the numbers reported as participants in the Summer Reading Program Brief and those reported as sign-ups on the Spreadsheet are different.  That is because some libraries report the number of finishers rather than the number of sign-ups and some do not count participation at all. Multnomah County Library signs up all students in Multnomah County school districts. Because of these discrepancies in reporting, the State Library uses formulas to estimate the number of children who sign up, which we then report as participants in the Brief. The numbers on the Spreadsheet are as reported by the local library.

 
SRP Research and Resources
The Oregon State Library's Youth Services Best Practices for Oregon Libraries blog and website is the place to learn about research-based components of high-quality summer reading programs, find examples of Oregon libraries implementing those components, and keep up with research, resources, and information around summer reading.
 
OLA's Children's Services Division's summer reading wiki is the place to share your great children's summer reading programs ideas, craft ideas, reading lists, and more.  Learn new ideas from Oregon children's librarians.
 
OLA's Oregon Young Adult Network's summer reading wiki is the place to share your great teen summer reading program ideas, craft ideas, reading lists, and more.  Learn new ideas from your Oregon teen librarians. 
 
The Collaborative Summer Library Program website has resources for planning children's, teen, and adult summer reading.  Collaborative members put together links to other information on the internet that may be useful in planning programs, events, and booklists around each year's theme.
 
Reading Rockets summer reading resources include tips for parents, tips for teachers and librarians, articles about summer learning research, booklists, and more.
 
Johns Hopkins University's National Center for Summer Learning conducts research, develops policy, and provides professional development regarding summer learning. This is a great way to keep up-to-date and summer reading research.  I recommend reading their Association Publications for your own professional development, and pulling talking point out of their Research Briefs to prepare for media interviews and advocacy.
 
Three other interesting resources are:
 
The Dominican Study: Public Library Summer Reading Programs Close the Reading Gap, a study conducted from October 2006 through September 2010 that examined the impact of pubic library summer reading program on student achievement among 3rd and 4th grade students.
 
The Importance of Summer Reading: Public Library Summer Reading Programs and Learning, a research brief published by the New York State Library in January 2010.
 
Reading Takes You Places: A Study of a Web-based Summer Reading Program, a report by the American Association of School Librarians and published by the American Library Association in 2009.

 
Vote for the 2013 Certificates
This year a children's Dig Into Reading certificate and a teen Beneath the Surface certificate will be available in both English and Spanish.  Oregon school and public librarians may now vote to select which children’s and which teen certificate will be made available this summer.
 
Please keep in mind these are just drafts, and a professional graphic designer will clean up the two winning certificates.
 
To vote: Please send an email with the subject heading “Oregon Summer Reading Certificate” to Katie Anderson by the end of the day March 26, 2013. The body of your email should include the title of one children’s certificate and one teen certificate listed below. 
 
Vote for one children’s 2013 Oregon Summer Reading Certificate.
Vote for one teen 2013 Oregon Summer Reading Certificate
The winning certificates will be announced at the end of March via an email sent out on the kids-lib, OYAN, and OASL listservs.