Summer Reading Fun 2023! It's a Wrap!

Submitted by Kim Ottesen

Summer Reading Fun was for everyone!

Summer Reading is our biggest program of the year and we could not create the magic for our patrons without our dedicated staff and sponsors. Thank you for everything that you have done to make this year fabulous. We had more participants than ever this year – 7730!

Programming staff wowed patrons with wonderful choices to be entertained, educated, inspired. Not only were our special presenters like the magicians and animals extremely popular, staff-created programs were tailored to our patrons and had high levels of interest. This summer, we provided 376 programs to patrons and had attendance of over 22,000! 

This spring the SRF planners were excited and a bit nervous about our shift to a new prize structure. Would our patrons miss the coupons to McDonalds or Stars and Strikes? Nope. We hoped the buttons would be popular, but our patrons' penchant for collecting was astounding. Most years, we can count on 56% of people who earn incentive prizes to come in to collect them. This year, that number jumped to 82%! These kids did not want to miss out on getting their buttons!

Prize books took on more importance this year since there was only one opportunity to get one and no option not to choose it (unlike years past). We actually had to make another Scholastic book order in the middle of summer to ensure that we will meet the demand. The Rotary Club of Forsyth County covered most of the cost of the prize books and the grand prizes. Their generosity made it possible to purchase amazing prizes!

Patrons were appreciative of all our efforts. Here are some patron quotes and comments recorded by staff:

"Every year, the summer reading gets so much better. We are forever grateful for the library and the staff who go above and beyond to instill the love of reading in the children."

"I love the library! I live in Duluth and try to remember to get there, but you guys here in Forsyth have amazing programs! I took a screenshot of the programs and shared it with my friends."

"My kids are really loving the library, especially this summer's buttons."

"We would have never know about the writing box or geocache if they hadn't been listed in the challenges" 

From CU: Summer decor especially the Giving tree is wonderful.

From CU: A Dad wanted to thank us for the SRP. His children are really loving the lanyards and pins especially the 500. He told us his Pre-K son is now reading new words on his own.

From PR: A patron, with four boys, aged 3-10, commented how much her elementary boys love the SRP lanyards. They are reading a lot this year to earn extra pins.

From SF: Patron thanked us for Beanstack because her son is now so excited to read. 

From SF: Patron wanted us to know that SRP was REALLY motivating his son and he was so thankful!

From PR: I love all the decorations you did here (while looking at the carousel over the Ask Us desk).

Thank you to all who have stowed their SRF t-shirts away and are breathing a sigh of relief from a job well done!