New York Statewide Summer Reading Program

Explore New York resources are now available.

This year, in recognition of the 400th anniversary of the voyages of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain, as well as the 200th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s invention of the steam ship, the New York State Library has incorporated New York State history-related activities and reading material into the 2009 Statewide Summer Reading Program.

“Be Creative: Explore New York” has been added as the slogan to the 2009 Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) slogans of “Be Creative @ your library” and “Express Yourself @ your library.”

The 2009 CSLP video Public Service Announcements are now available. To view them, please go to http://www.cslpreads.org/psa.htm.

Customized New York State versions of the teen and children’s video PSAs will be available sometime in April to view and download from the New York Statewide Summer Reading Program website:  http://summerreadingnys.org.

The CSLP website also includes audio PSAs along with instructions for downloading and use.

The 2009 web site has been updated. The main page has some information for planners. All of the kids and teen games from 2008 are still available, but they’ve moved to make room for 2009 activities as we add them.

We hope you’ll share photos of your planning meetings, program ideas, crafts and activities through your flickr accounts. Don’t have one yet? Sign up! It’s free.

• When you add your photos to flickr, please tag them srp2009nys so we can find them.
• Consider joining the flickr Summer Reading photo group and sharing your photos there as well.

And please share your ideas here on the blog too! Use the comment form on the Share Your News & Ideas tab at the top of the page  to share your ideas, news, program successes and questions.

Thanks!

We’re back! And even though it’s ridiculously cold, it’s time to think about the 2009 Summer Reading Program. Ah, I feel warmer already.

New York State is once again participating in the Collaborative Summer Library Program. Be Creative @ Your Library is the children’s program. And Express Yourself @ Your Library is the teen program.

The New York State Library has been busy updating their website with all sorts of information for promoting summer reading. And the web site with activities for kids and teens is in the process of being updated. You should see the new look soon.

As you’re planning your programs for this summer, please share your ideas here on the blog - see the Share Your News & Ideas tab up above.  All you need to do is leave a comment on that page.

Hope you all had a wonderful summer full of fun activities and tons of reading. Have a great story to tell? An program that was really successful, a funny anecdote or two? We encourage you to share your stories here.

And here’s a summer reading celebration story I couldn’t resist sharing: Readers dig library director’s bug diet, from the Lawrence (KS) Public Library. Over 2000 children participated in their summer reading program and their had to own up to his promise to eat some bugs. Good for him! But ewww…. Bet there were other bug eating bets out there too! (via AL Direct 8/27/08)

Did you eat bugs? Share your stories!

Seven children from New York State created short videos about their favorite books and entered the 2008 StoryTubes project. Get ready for more next year!

Interested in joining in the 2009 program? Check out the StoryTubes site for more information.

StoryTubes - Reading Energy

Using a simple FLIP video cam and lots of creativity, the folks at Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library put together an awesome video to promote their summer reading club. Cindy Robertson from the library says:

The song was so catchy that after some kids heard it in their morning programs at school, they came into the library weeks later singing it!

Check it out on their Summer Reading Club page.

Marie Ellsworth of the Caldwell-Lake George Library sent us this note about one of their summer reading projects. They’ve teamed up with TD Banknorth and other local businesses to offer reading incentives. TD Banknorth is running a summer reading program that offers children a $10 incentive to read 10 books this summer.

We are right next door to Banknorth so we’ve worked out a cooperative venture. The kids sign up for the program here and get a packet I made up with the bank reading form, Pizza Hut & Appleby’s forms.

We are featuring earth-friendly projects in the children’s room. Next week is a solar s’more cooker made out of a pizza box and tin foil. Yeah, I’m not kidding!  Our local pizza shop donated to boxes.

The bank is going to display the projects and any recyling ideas the kids come up with. They’ve even put up a special table to show the projects and promote the library and the NYS reading program.

Our motto is: “Save Money, Save the Earth.”

This seems like a good way to promote community involvement and make more people aware of library services.

Sign me up for those s’mores!

Check out the fun stuff that the kids at the Albany Public Library have been doing this summer. APL is running some summer Computer Camp programs and the kids have been blogging and podcasting and making videos. Their enthusiasm is contagious. Thanks to Marcia Middleton for the heads up.

Stillwater Free Library is running a fun contest. They created a bug themed poster with READ on it and took photos of all the kids wearing buggy glasses. Check out there photos and the contest on their Reading Bugs flickr set.

And check out more summer reading ideas at the Library Summer Reading Programs flick group.