A summer reading program is the cornerstone event of the year for most public libraries. But in my conversations with other library marketers, there is a central worry: slipping participation numbers.
Our summer programs compete so many other things: camps and vacations, transportation issues and poverty-related issues. We struggled with summer reading participation at my library. Between 2013 and 2017, our registration and check-in numbers steadily declined.
In 2017 and 2018, we made some changes that not only stopped that decline in participation, but actually reversed it–in a big way. In 2018, we saw a 12 percent increase in registration and a 97 percent increase in participation. Yep, you read that right. It was slightly insane!
The changes we made were not revolutionary. They weren’t costly. To me they actually felt a little… vintage. And they were easy. I think that’s why we were so surprised by the results.
These changes were all suggested by our planning committee so I take no credit for coming up with them. But my staff helped implement them. Each one made it easier for us to market summer reading. So if your library is struggling with declining participation, you might consider these options.
Drop the library card requirement. We decided to let anyone participate in summer reading, not just library cardholders. Dropping the requirement to get a library card sounds counter-intuitive, I know. It felt weird! But it opened the program up to a whole population of people, particularly those in under-served communities and those who may not be year-round residents of our service area. It makes your program more inclusive.
Of course, at registration and check-in, our front-line library staff still suggest that those participants get a card. And our new cardholder numbers still increase during the summer. As long as staff are still suggesting people get a card and explaining the many benefits of having one, you can drop the requirement without risking a dip in cardholder sign ups.
Add experiences to your participation elements. Several years ago, we decided to re-brand the program as Summer Adventure. In doing that, we set up new guidelines for what counts as participation. Reading, for certain, is a big part. But our participants can also get credit for doing things!
We created themes for each week of our summer program. They include the arts, nature, sports, and maker and technology. Then, we make suggestions for activities people can complete to earn participation credit. They can attend an event at the Library, go on a nature walk, visit the zoo or a park, draw a picture, build something with LEGOs, write a story… the list is pretty long. So, if someone doesn’t read 20 minutes a day but still completes an activity, they get credit and a prize.
Consider paper tracking. Okay, I know this is going to sound really nuts but hear me out. Many libraries have an app or an online software platform that participants use to track their reading. It seems like that would be exactly what customers want. It’s certainly what I want!
But when our library switched to online tracking, our registration and participation numbers went way down. Many of our under-served community members don’t have access to a computer or Wi-Fi at home. They can’t log in to track their reading and they can’t download or use an app.
In addition, many of our connected participants apparently forget to track their participation electronically. Or they just found the process of downloading the app, putting in their information, and then using it to log their reading to be cumbersome.
We went back to a paper tracker. Actually, we created a passport. It’s small–about the size of a real passport so it fits easily in a purse, backpack, or pocket. It’s about 24 pages long. It has suggestions for activities. It has reading tracking. It has space for doodling. It has blank pages for journaling or other creative writing.
Our participants get a passport at the start of summer. They bring it back to the library every week for a stamp. They love it. The idea of a passport or a printed log they can carry around is fun and it makes their participation tangible. Their reaction to it was totally unexpected. And it might work for you!

Make a game out of getting a prize. Last year, our summer planning staff had the craziest idea yet. I’ll be honest: I did not think this would be a popular thing. Boy, I was wrong.
Here was the idea: instead of giving out set prizes at certain levels, we printed scratch-off tickets. When someone completes a prize level, they get a scratch off ticket. Then they get whatever prize is on the scratch-off.
People LOVED the tickets. We had to reorder them twice last year! And we really think this fun element was the big driver of our huge participation numbers in 2018.

Do you have any fun tips for marketing summer reading? Please share them in the comments section below.
More tips
Three Very Un-Library Ways to Market Summer Reading
Four Ways to Hook Summer Readers Forever
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April 15, 2019 at 7:38 am
We do all these things and have been doing them for awhile, but our numbers stay the same. Our completion rates are really low – less than 50% of kids complete the 8 week program, and it’s even less than that for teens/adults. I think our reading program needs to be simplified; it has too many moving pieces. As the marketer, I’ve told staff if you can’t explain it in one sentence, it needs to be simplified. Crickets.
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April 15, 2019 at 9:54 am
Yes you are right, it does have to be simple. It might sound like ours is more complicated but it’s really not. Read or do something and you get a prize… that’s it. I’m sorry you are struggling so much. I’m curious if you track completion week by week… like, is there a defined point in your 8-week cycle where you see a portion of kids dropping off? If so, that might be an area to focus on… why are they dropping off at that point and can we do any targeted marketing to combat that. Marketing summer reading is hard, I won’t lie. Two months of it plus all the lead-up… I feel like we beat the same drum over and over again and ends up just being noise.
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April 15, 2019 at 9:40 am
We went through pretty much the same thing. We moved to an app and people were devastated or just angry. It didnt help that our online platform was not most user-friendly. When we went back to paper we had a huge increase in completion rates! I love the scratch ticket idea – did it make that prize level a higher value item? How much chance did people have to win?
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April 15, 2019 at 9:51 am
No, we still have four levels of prizes. We get four variables on the tickets. We print a large portion of tickets for the smaller prize, and then progressively less tickets for each prize up the scale. So like this:
1,000 Adventure Prize
15,000 Book
29,000 Coupon
55,000 Prize Box
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April 18, 2019 at 10:29 am
Where did you find the scratch off tickets? Did you create them or purchase them? I know you can just buy the scratch off circles online.
Thank you!
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April 18, 2019 at 11:52 am
We have one of our regular off-site printing vendors make them. Basically, I just asked… hey, can you guys do this? And they said yes! We get 55,000 tickets printed with four variables (for the four prizes) and it costs about $2700.
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