This page is a guide to understanding the information the state asks you to collect about children's programming in your Annual Report and Summer Reading Survey, but it's important to remember that the state report is only one method of evaluating how your program went. Think about the story you want to tell your board, your community, and your funding sources and then think of what information you need to tell that story. It could be statistics, but it could also be patron testimonials or a collaborative project with a community partner. Success is defined at the local level - and it's not always about the numbers.
Although NYS changed how they count programs for the purposes of the annual report, they generally do not release the Summer Reading report guidelines until midyear. Do your best to track what programs you offer, what age range they are targeted to, and who actually attends them.
When the state asks if you held a Summer Reading Program, what they want to know is if you encouraged reading by having patrons sign up and track how much they read, and/or offered special programming to encourage learning and engagement over the summer. A Summer Reading Program happens continuously throughout the summer (or for a set number of weeks), encouraging children to read or be read to by a caregiver and tabulated by reporting minutes spent reading, pages read, or the number of books read. Participants may also attend individual program sessions or series of sessions put on by the library.
Recently the state has not asked libraries to report on reading totals for their registered participants. However, you will want to collect and keep this data because it will help you assess your program from year to year and can help you justify requests for increased funding. In the 2022 and 2023 Summer Reading Surveys, the state asked only for the number of children, teens and adults who registered for the summer reading program.
A collaborator is an organization that provides space and/or services for a specific program series or session, such as bringing children to programs, providing space for programming, assisting with planning, providing programming, etc. It does not include donating money or items, distributing promotional materials (bookmarks/flyers) or hanging posters. Hired performers/programmers are not considered collaborators.
For more information on collaboration, check out the slides below!
Synchronous Program Sessions (Live and Virtual)
One planned session conducted by a staff member, outside performer, or other programmer, which could be onsite, offsite, or virtual this summer – it does not include informal visits to the library to report on reading, etc. Activities/crafts included in a scheduled Summer Programming/Virtual Programming program such as storytime are not counted separately. Live virtual programs are those conducted via a web conferencing or webinar platform such as Facebook, YouTube, or Zoom, during which a library staff member (or other party sponsored or arranged by the library) is presenting to or interacting with an audience in real time.
Self-directed or Independent programs (Grab and go)
Self-directed activity kits or materials given out to children or families are counted as One-on-One programs. If your library gives away 50 STEM kits, you count each kit as a one on one program, each with one participant. On the Annual Report, One-on-One Programs are only counted as One-on-One Sessions and Attendance, and not under the Synchronous Programming or Summer Reading sections.
It does not include setting out coloring pages or displays. Activities/crafts included in a scheduled program such as storytime are not counted separately.
Recorded Programs or Content (Asynchronous)
Recordings of program content include video or audio recordings created by a library staff person (or other party sponsored by the library) and posted to a video or audio hosting platform for the audience to view or listen to on-demand. Do not include promotional or marketing content.
Until DLD releases the Summer Reading survey, we do not know exactly what data they will require. This spreadsheet is a guide to collecting data for both annual reports and the Summer Reading report, as it was presented in 2021. Make a copy, then print or fill out on your device for each program you run, one program session per row. If we receive new information from DLD about summer reading data, this spreadsheet will be updated. This is only a guide; please make edits as needed for your local data collection.
For the purposes of the annual report:
Programs must be categorized by their PRIMARY audience into one of the following categories:
Record total attendance, regardless of the ages of the attendees. If 15 children attend with 12 adult caregivers, your total attendance is 27.
For the purposes of the Summer Reading Survey (As it stands as of 4/18/2022):
Programs must be categorized by their PRIMARY audience into one of the following categories:
Recorded attendance must reflect the rough age distribution of attendees. You will be asked to report the total attendance, as well as the number of parent/caregiver participants in youth programs.