Library’s summer learning program a success

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County saw an increased level of engagement and completion with participants involved in its summer learning program this year.
 
The program was expanded to bring a variety of programs under the same umbrella, while also offering more opportunities to community members at every branch.
 
Brain camps, for example, were offered at each branch, and the focus was shifted specifically to struggling readers.
 
“We especially focused on third graders who aren’t reading on grade level,” says Diane Smiley, PLCHC youth services and programming coordinator. “It’s such a watershed point—if they’re not reading on grade level at third grade, they’re much less stable, so that was really our focus.”
 
A new component was added to the program this year—Summer Camp Reading experience.
 
“We did that in association with a small nonprofit called Summer Camp Reading, which originated in Cincinnati in 2010, but it’s grown over time and essentially is a very intensive six-week intervention program for a targeted number of children,” Smiley says.
 
Ninety students were identified and recruited by teachers and administrators from neighborhood schools serving children where there is a large population of third graders performing below grade level.
 
“The program was really focused on literacy skills to bump those children up and make sure they had some continuous improvement experience and reading skills improvement over the summer months,” Smiley says.
 
In addition to small and large group activities, each student received 30 minutes a day of individual tutoring with a reading specialist, and according to Smiley, preliminary feedback indicates the program was a huge success.
 
“There was a pre- and post-test as well as intermittent testing, and of the 90 children at those seven branches, all but one experienced definite improvement over the course of the sessions,” Smiley says. “But we were really pleased that 99 percent had demonstrated improvement with their reading skills.”

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