Summer Reading Programs

For years children’s librarians have known that summer reading programs are beneficial to students.  Plenty of anecdotal information supports the same idea.  Unfortunately there was no long-term study to back this viewpoint.  Until the Dominican Study entitled “Public Library Summer Reading Programs Close the Reading Gap” was published in June of 2010. 

This three-year study has started to bring librarians the hard evidence needed to prove that summer reading programs do indeed benefit students and prevent what is commonly refered to as the ‘summer slide.’

The gist of the 103-page report is that public library summer reading programs impact student achievement in positive ways.  Reading achievement test scores were higher and reading skills were not only maintained but also improved.  And the best part, in my opinion, is that students were more enthusiastic about reading after having participated in the program.

There are definitely some flaws within the study especially with the attrition rate of national study as well as self-selection which means there is a lack of control factors.  This study is at least a start in the right direction.  Hopefully, more researchers and even more importantly librarians will continue to do research on this important topic.

Check the study out for yourself: http://www.dom.edu/academics/gslis/downloads/DOM_IMLS_book_2010_FINAL_web.pdf