[OPLINLIST] adult winter reading compilation

Wed Nov 20 09:35:41 EST 2013

Hello all!
I received many great suggestions from my request for adult winter reading
ideas.  Below is a compilation.  I plan to start a winter reading program
towards the end of January through February, and try weekly drawings for
smaller prizes and see how it goes.  Thank you all for your help!

Hello Jessica,

We’ve done an Adult Holiday Reading Program at the Perry County District
Library for 2 years now.  We do exactly what we do for Summer reading but
on a smaller scale.  Usually we ask adults to read 3 books and do 3 book
reviews this enters them to win a weekly prize (usually holiday themed).
We also do weekly programs at our main branch.  Our theme has been “How-To
Holidays” and our programs are usually fun holiday crafts that can be used
for gifts or décor.  It starts the first week of December and usually lasts
3-4 weeks depending on when the holidays fall.  It can be difficult with
holiday closings and strange hours but we’ve had a great response!

Hope this helps.

Heather McElfresh

Reference Librarian

Perry County District Library

117 S. Jackson St.

New Lexington, OH 43764

(740) 342-4194 <%28740%29%20342-4194>

hmcelfresh at pcdl.org

Hi Jessica,

We have been doing an adult winter reading program here for years, I took
it over when I was hired in 2008. I always request prize donations from
area business as there is no budget at all for this program. Patrons do not
have to sign up in advance, just fill out an entry form whenever they read
or listen to a book and throw the entry form in my little box. I draw for
small weekly ($10 max) and some grand prizes at the end. The program runs
for six weeks, mid-January  thru February. Most prizes are gift cards and
the number I give out just depends on how many donations I get. This
program does not draw the number of participants that our summer reading
program does, perhaps the lousy weather plays a part in this, I don't know.

I hope this is helpful to you and I wish you well. If you find anything
that works really well I'd love to know about it!

Good luck,
Kathy

Kathy Jones
Reference Librarian
Hudson Library & Historical Society
96 Library Street
Hudson, OH 44236
330-653-6658 x 1010 <330-653-6658%20x%201010>
kathy.jones at hudson.lib.oh.us

Hello Jessica.

We do a winter reading program for adults every year.  We typically start
around the second week in January (we are starting January 6 this year.)
We run it for 6 weeks, and treat it exactly as we do our summer reading
program for adults.  Same sorts of prizes.   Our Marketing department and I
talk and come up with a theme each year… This year will be “Read and Relax.”

The only comment I have regarding lessons learned… attendance is not as
high for this program as for the summer reading program.  I think part of
that is parents participate with their children in the summer, whereas, in
the winter the kids aren’t doing it.  Don’t be disheartened by that.  It
also takes time to develop a following.  As much marketing as we do, and
for as long as we’ve done this, we still get genuinely surprised patrons
that had no idea about our summer/winter reading programs.

Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with follow-up questions.

Nieca Nowels

Nieca L. Nowels

Adult Services Manager

Westerville Public Library

126 S. State Street

Westerville, Ohio 43081

614-882-7277 ext. 2138

nnowels at westervillelibrary.org

Christina Thurairatnam <cthurairatnam at holmeslib.org>

 [image: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif]

[image: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif]

One year I tried book bingo which turned out to be not very popular. The
next winter I tried a reading program exactly like the SRP (a prize ticket
for every book read) and that had better participation. This year I tried
Blind Date with a Book which was a huge hit and I will likely be doing that
again in 2014. It is a lot of work ahead of time but the patrons really
liked it.

I usually go with smaller prizes for winter reading program (this year's
prize was movie tickets donated by a local theater and a restaurant gift
card).

had six responses to my question in regard to Winter Adult Reading
programs. I compiled a spreadsheet detailing and comparing the few
responses that I received --  including some research into some qualifying
information such as population and general feel for levels of affluence in
the area. I invite you to continue filling this out and return it to me as
more people respond.

>From what I see right now, It seems that:

Rural community libraries with working to middle class levels of affluence
had the highest levels of participation.

Small town libraries with working to middle class levels of affluence – the
towns about the size of mine in Shelby – had average levels of
participation. I heard things like, “there were fewer people who
registered, but they read more and could better attend programs because
they were not as busy as they are in the summertime”.

Urban libraries, suburban libraries or small town libraries that were
rather affluent had the lowest levels of participation.

Of the communities where Winter reading was successful, various comments
that I received were:

Our reading group has higher attendance in winter.

Our patrons seem to appreciate this more than a summer offering

We had fewer numbers, but the adult program not bolstered by Youth reading
program numbers, [so it is like comparing apples to oranges].

A couple ideas that worked:

Blind date w/ a book with personal ads with a wrapped up book. Prize is
dinner & movie for two around valentine's day.

Bingo (locate where in the library a book on______ is located) Win a home
cooked dinner made by a Friend of the Library. Read about a book a week.

My best advice is to take a look at the culture and interests of people in
your area. Is there a lot to do in the summer, but not really in the
Winter? Do your patrons come in to stock up on reading materials before
forecasts detailing possible inclement weather more than they do at other
times during the year? If so, you might want to consider offering the
Winter Program. After the few results that I received, I was convinced that
Winter reading might be worth a try here in Shelby, but we are undergoing
some changes in our organization in 2014, so it would be best to try this
in 2015.

I look forward to seeing the responses that you gain and hearing how your
program goes if you have one.

Good Luck,

Shelley Bylica

Public Services Librarian

Marvin Memorial Library, Shelby, OH

Hi Jessica - I started a winter reading program here in Euclid a few years
ago, though I'm in another department now so I haven't been involved the
last couple years. I'd still say that keeping it simple and getting lots of
staff buy-in were key to success here.

Our patrons liked keeping track of their reading and getting tchotchkes,
but the end-of-winter-reading programs were generally poorly attended. We
handed out something after the first book completed, and again after the
third book completed. Anything folks read after 3 books was just for them,
no extra incentives. The notebooks and snowflake bookmarks we gave out were
favorites; the candles were a bust. I found a lot of inexpensive
winter-themed giveaways for adults on wedding shower sites.

We didn't offer a grand prize for most books read or anything, and no one
cared - a couple times I think we had higher participation in winter
reading than in summer reading, even though summer reading has big prize
baskets. Our programs ran early January-late February, and completing three
books in that time period wasn't a huge stretch, even for a fairly busy
reader: about 2/3 of the people who read one book managed to complete at
least three books.

Because there wasn't a "winner," and the giveaways were small, we allowed
(encouraged!) staff to participate. This really got people from all
departments involved in promoting winter reading, and our employees were
more enthusiastic about this program than adult summer reading, which we
can't participate in. Last year I didn't run the program, but we're
offering it again this year under new leadership :) and I'm excited to have
it back.

Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or I
can point you to the current program leader if they don't chime in.

Jennifer

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Jennifer Lottes
Supervisor of Outreach Services
Euclid Public Library
Euclid, OH
216-261-5300 x701 <216-261-5300%20x701>
jlottes at euclidlibrary.org

Hi Jessica,

We run our adult winter reading program during the month of February.
Participants fill out a ticket with their name and book read, including
Books on CD, E-books, or 3 magazines per ticket. The tickets then go into a
big box and once a week there is a drawing, usually 3 winners are picked.
They then get to choose a small prize out of the box, usually gift
certificates to local attractions around $5.00. Throughout the program all
of the tickets are kept and at the end we choose 3 grand prize winners for
larger prizes from $25.00-$10.00 to finish the program. Our Friends of the
Library group give us the money from the book sale to fund the prizes. If
you have anymore questions don't be afraid to contact me. Have a wonderful
weekend!

[image: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif]

Beth Fry

Bliss Memorial Public Library

419-983-4675

Jessica Troyer, Director
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