The Irene Ingle Public Library staff wanted to turn a new page on this year’s summer reading program for kids.

“We have been doing the same, very successful program for 30 years,” said Library Director Sarah Scambler, “but we wanted to find creative ways to keep kids engaged.”

In past years, many of the kindergarten through ninth graders would read just enough to qualify for the pizza and pool party at the end of the program, and the staff wondered if there might be incentives to keep them reading.

“I consulted with my almost-sixth-grader daughter, Fiona, to brainstorm possibilities. She suggested a series of 3D printed tokens for every 10 points. We worked with an artist to develop a series of ocean-themed prizes that were designed specifically for our library, Scambler said.

“They are unique and become progressively more cool for each 10 points earned, from a betta fish to a sea dragon. They were super popular.”

The librarian believes the incentives were the biggest contributing factor to increased participation this year.

The number of readers who hit 100 points increased from seven last year to 18. “Every one of the readers that hit 70 points went on to the 100-point level, and four of those went on to 200 points.” Those four were entered into a raffle for a $100 Amazon gift card.

Kaitlin Wilson, library assistant, said that while the number of students enrolled was comparable to last year, they read a lot more. “Last year they collectively read 3,027 books, and this year they read 4,388 books.”

An additional incentive was the use of audio books. “Studies have shown that audio books and print books use the same part of the brain. Reading is reading. Some students challenged themselves to read larger books independently by following along the print copy with the audio copy,” Scambler said.

The library has increased the number of books on a Playaway system, a self-contained audio player with one book loaded, so that students don’t need a Kindle or other device to access audio books, which could be a cost barrier for some readers.

Wilson said one student said he loved to play outside but couldn’t read and play outside at the same time. But with an audio book, he could. “Our goal is to make reading accessible,” she said.

The end-of-program pool party was Aug. 8.

Readers really stepped up this year. Last year, they read more books than points earned, meaning many relied on picture books. But this year, “there were more points earned than tickets distributed, which means participants were challenging themselves with longer books,” said Scambler. 

In addition to the joy of reading, there were prizes galore to distribute. “Because they read so much more this year, we had 1,400 more tickets across the prize jars than last year, and we handed out 164 prizes,” she said All of the prizes were donated by the community.

A new summer reading program was also introduced for 15- to 20-year old readers. “I was pleasantly surprised by the interest,” said Scambler. Twenty-one people read at least one book, while 19 read at least three, and received the incentive prize of an Odwalla mug. Eight read six books each and earned a $25 gift certificate to Sweet Tides.

There haven’t been a lot of programs for teens in the past, and most of the participants were previously involved in the summer reading program or had siblings enrolled.

The staff was pleased with the results of their additions, even though it required increased planning and logistics. “It was a good learning curve, and we know to start earlier next year,” said Scambler.

Michelle Clark recently joined the staff as program coordinator. “I grew up doing the summer reading program, so I only knew it from a kid’s perspective. It’s been something to see how much work it really is on the back end. It’s been really fun for me.”

Speaking for the staff, Scambler concluded: “The enthusiasm this year was really cool. We don’t think we’ve ever seen this level of excitement. We are proud of all the readers and their parents. We’re all excited to see what happens next year.