Summer Reading PRIZE DAY!

It's here and the prizes have been flying out the door. We have had lots of comments on our parents exit survey on the type of prizes this year. It is somewhat depressing to know that not everyone is happy. Just so you know we have had the same budget for our program for the past 7 years and the number of kids participating has doubled.

One of the questions we asked parents on the survey is, "Is Summer Reading about the reading or about the prizes?" Interestingly enough, all but one parent said, "It's about the reading", but they still complained about the prizes.

So what do you think? Should we offer fewer prizes of a larger size? Or should we offer the same types of prizes that we offered this year? Should we offer just books? Should we offer the raffle again next year? It was a huge motivator this year.

We tried to make everything easier on the parents this year and have fewer options and no points to count. This however, led to fewer choices and some children who did not get the prize that they really wanted. I hope at least that they enjoyed reading this summer.

Frustrated in Prizeland
Michele, Children's Librarian