[Publib] Adult summer reading part 2

[elizabeth fraser]

Hi
   I received a slew of off list questions about our two surveys of adult
summer reading programs last year.  We did one of other library's programs
and then we surveyed our patrons.
   I think I have answered all the questions I got.  The first part is on
other libraries and the second is on our patron.
  Hope this helps

Elizabeth

*Our findings on other libraries*

*Style 1 program – drawing for gift certificates*

An entry into a drawing for each book read -5 libraries

An entry into a drawing for each 2 read – 1 library

An entry into a drawing for each 3 read – 1 library

An entry into a drawing for each 5 read – 1 library (they also read
categories)

Write a book review for entry into a drawing – 2 libraries ( One also had a
number read for end of summer prize)

An entry into a drawing for reading a set number of minutes a day for the
week – 2 libraries

An entry into a drawing for reading in ranges (ie books 1-5/books 6-10) –
two libraries



*Style 2 program – reading a set number of books for a set prize*

Read 3 books – 1 library

Read 6 books -3 libraries (one also had a grand prize drawing from the pool
of completers) ( our library does 6 books)

Read 10 books – 1 library

One library had a prize for the first 5 and a second prize for the next 5



*Themes vs. categories*

All libraries seemed to have a theme/slogan for their adult summer reading
program.  We found 4 libraries beside our own that ask people to pick books
from a set of categories.  Most libraries did not make patrons read books
related to their theme, but a number provided book lists related to the
theme anyway.



*Our emails*

We emailed a many of the libraries to ask about their programs.  Whether
people did gift certificates or reading for a prize seemed to be determined
by budget at many libraries, but not exclusively.  Some libraries got the
gift certificates donated, but a number also bought them to save staff time
begging.  All libraries seemed to think their program could have more people
participate, but also had limited staffing to build the program up.



* *

*Our survey of our patrons in the Britton program*

Background about our program – We pick a general theme and then pick 6
categories for patrons to read in.  Categories might be something like any
book that has won a prize or a biography of someone who is not famous or a
book from Book Lust.  Staff doesn't judge if it met the category.  If the
patron thinks it did, it did.  We have a reception in September and those
who read all 6 get a prize.

We did two surveys.  One was mailed to people who completed the program
(read the 6 books) in 2006.  The second was posted to our page and the
survey noted that this survey was for adults who started but didn't complete
or never participated.

Before the survey we were leaning heavily toward dropping spending our
limited funds on the completer's prize and the reception.  So many libraries
had great success with gift certificate drawings that we thought it might
increase participation.  We were also waffling on our tradition of providing
people with categories to read in and let them read what they liked.

Our results surprised us.  First we never thought people would write pages
and pages about their adult summer reading experience.  We got an
overwhelming response that they wanted a completer prize even from people
who didn't complete.  Patrons felt the gift certificate drawing was
transitory.  The mug or other prize with the logo was a sign of their
accomplishment.

We got mixed response about the categories.  We think that people who didn't
like reading in a category took the category as restricting them more than
we did. We also had some complaints that the categories we picked didn't
work well for inspirational readers.  Other readers really liked that they
had to read outside their regular habits.

We decided not to get rid of categories for 2007, but added extra categories
to give them more choices.  We also made some categories very broad like a
book with a colour in the title or author's name.




-- 
Elizabeth Fraser
Reference Services Head
Kanawha County Public Library
123 Capitol St
Charleston WV 25301
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