COVID-19 causes CALS to make adaptations to children's summer program
August 30 - September 5, 2021
By Remington Miller
COVID-19 changed multiple aspects of an ideal summer, even down to a child’s reading habits.
This summer, the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS)hosts an annual summer reading program that focuses on encouraging patrons to use the library, preventing summer learning loss, and introducing children to reading. The children’s reading program focuses on a book of choice instead of a school’s recommended selection based on reading level rather than interest. The program usually consists of an overall theme and various age-appropriate events for different groups throughout the summer.
“We really do try to make it an all-ages program. We try to offer something for every different age group and engage families by planning things they can all do together,” said CALS
Youth Services Coordinator Ellen Samples, who has worked with the summer reading program for the last 15 years.
Beyond education, the summer reading program promotes a community with the local library at the center. Pre-pandemic each branch would host a weekly meeting for different age groups. The specificity of the age groups depends on the individual branch, but typically there is a group for younger elementary students, older elementary students and middle schoolers, and teenagers.
In 2017, the program became accessible online. Previously, a patron or person interested in joining the program would need to register in person with a librarian at one of the branches. This change was thanks to CALS’ partnership with Beanstack, an online platform where subscribers can keep track of their reading in a log format and find book recommendations.
“The way it is set up during the program is a badging system. So, if you read a certain number of books, you would get this digital badge or if you check off that you’ve participated in these kinds of programs or activities you get another badge. Often the badges equal some other kind of incentive,” Samples said.
According to library officials, every time a child earns a badge, they are entered into a weekly prize drawing at each location. CALS has 14 branches throughout the region, nine of which are in Little Rock. There are also other ways for children to earn prizes, like filling out a bingo card full of educational and reading activities.
At the end of the program, if a child or teen has earned seven badges on Beanstack, they receive a free book. This educational opportunity receives positive feedback, but with a pandemic that penalizes public gatherings, there had to be alterations to protect everyone’s safety.
Anticipating these changes, Samples said the number of participants has declined. She estimated the program went from around 14,000 participants to 2,000 in 2020. In 2021, there were more participants at just over 5,000, but nowhere near the program’s previous reach.
Instead of in-person meetings, Samples said performances and presentations were presented in a virtual manner where those interested could watch and participate, but from a distance. In-person events held outside and socially distanced, she said.
“They want the hands-on experience,” Samples said, “We put together 1,000 craft starter kits for kids. When they registered at the beginning of the Summer, they got a little pencil case with a pack of crayons, a pack of colored pencils, a bottle of glue, a glue stick, a pencil sharpener, and a pair of scissors. We tried to plan ahead to include the supplies that would make all our projects accessible and successful.”
To keep up with those on-site activities, grab-and-go bags were available for those interested to stop by a library and take a bag from a distanced spot and then take the activity home to complete.
Samples said the grab-and-go activities seemed to be a hit with the community responded well to. She said the ability to do the activity on the family’s time drew out participants that may not have been able to get to the library at a specific time.
“We were really planning on having more in-person programming inside our buildings for this fall.” Samples said, “Six weeks later and we thought ‘oh well, that’s probably going to look different than we thought.’”
CALS will utilize outdoor programming this fall and continue to utilize a virtual platform as well as grab-and-go activities. Staff will be wearing masks and the public is strongly encouraged to wear masks as well.
Samples said the goal is to keep their plans responsive and adaptable to the health situation in Arkansas. She expects these transitions to be easier and possible due to CALS being more prepared now due to the pandemic shutting places down initially.