How to Dive Into Summer @ Your Library

We are officially nearly three weeks into our 2022 Summer @ Your Library program here at AACPL! But if you haven’t signed up yet for this terrific program, there is still plenty of time to do so. Kids, teens, and adults are all invited to take part in this year’s S@YL Quest.

The Oceans of Possibilities-themed Quest is designed to ensure that you are never at a loss for ways to stay engaged with learning this summer, both in our 16 library locations and at home with your family!

We spoke with AACPL’s S@YL Programming & Outreach Coordinator, Steve Mangum, to get the inside scoop on why participation in this summer program is so valuable and how to get the most from the experience. Read on below for more details!

Why Complete the Quest?

Steve offered five compelling reasons to participate in Summer @ Your Library, this year and every year!

1. Participation mitigates the learning loss known as ‘summer slide’, during which kids on vacation from school lose an average of 20% of the previous year’s reading gains and 27% of its math gains. In fact, by the end of 6^th grade, students who accumulate these losses from summer slide are an average of two years behind their peers! But reading as part of a structured challenge with incentives that are not grades is a way of “hiding the vegetables”, as Steve says – they are still learning, but in a way that sparks enthusiasm rather than stress.
2. The AACPL quest, with all its events, resources, and more is totally and completely free! This is compared to an average cost of nearly $300 per week (per child!) for other summer enrichment programs.
3. The quest promotes family bonding and togetherness, with enrichment for all ages! As Steve points out, “Summer @ Your Library at it core is activities that we can do with families as a whole. It’s just another way for folks to come together during the summer and have fun, but also learn while doing it!” He also encourages parents to join in, so that they are modeling for their children what it can look like to really enjoy learning; he explains that “you can play along with your kids and ultimately, that inspires them to go further.”
4. According to Steve, “everything counts!” This means that it is not only reading a physical, traditional book that counts towards the days you can log for the S@YL quest, but any format (like podcasts, audiobooks, comics/graphic novels, storytimes) or even any sort of learning activity! As for reading specifically, we’ve found that one of the best ways to get reluctant readers interested again is through offering choice. Steve stresses that “you can’t underestimate the power of being able to read what you want. That’s huge!”

How to Complete the Quest

Here are the 10 steps you can take to ensure you and your family are getting the full S@YL experience:

1. Sign up by either going into one of our 16 locations and picking up a gameboard with stickers, by registering online, or by visiting the Summer Reading Fair at Eastport-Annapolis Neck Library on Tuesday, June 28, between 2-4 PM.
   • If you choose the latter, you can register for the challenge in the Beanstack® app that we use for tracking reading/activities or simply navigate to https://aacpl.beanstack.org/ and scroll down to create an account.
   • You can create multiple readers of any age under the same account.
2. Set a daily goal (e.g., read for 20 minutes per day or do one learning activity, such as participating in an in-person or virtual library event) and plan to meet that goal for 40 days over the course of the summer.
• We will have interactive, virtual performances from our popular summer entertainers every Friday at 10am between July 1 and August 5!
3. Track your daily success by either logging the day in Beanstack® or mark an X on the gameboard for each day you complete your reading or activity.
• Teens and adults are encouraged to use our special bookmarks where you can easily log your progress – though you are welcome to use a gameboard if you prefer!
• Bear in mind that any books you log in the Beanstack® app are also counted automatically toward the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge, if you have children enrolled in that program.
4. Collect stickers every four days until you have five stickers (20 days) logged.
5. Come into one of our library locations to get a midway prize!
6. Submit your first raffle ticket at one of our libraries, or on Beanstack® (our friendly library staff can show you how!) to be entered into a drawing for one of six amazing grand prizes!
• The drawing for grand prizes will take place in mid-September.
7. Keep going with your daily reading/learning and tracking, collecting stickers every four days, until you reach 40 days total.
8. Come into the library to get a second prize and to receive a second raffle ticket, which can be entered into the raffle for another chance to win one of our grand prizes!
• Please make sure to check that you or one of our AACPL staff have marked you as registered and completed in Beanstack® so that your quest accomplishment is official!
9. Celebrate your achievement!
10. Keep up your learning momentum into the fall.

Check out AACPS’ summer reading lists for every grade level below as a starting point for some reading ideas during the Quest. But most importantly, join AACPL as we dive into learning this summer by going after whatever sparks the curiosity of you and your family! We are here to support you on your quest, wherever it takes you.