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52 Weeks of Summer: Building Year Long Sustainability from Summer Success - Session

On Saturday, June 24 I attended the session 52 Weeks of Summer: Building Year Long Sustainability from Summer Success.

This program was presented by:
Elizabeth Hanson-McChesney, Chicago Public Library System
Bryan Wunar, Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
Amy Twito, Seattle Public Library

The main idea around this presentation was using the partnerships that most libraries seek out and build during the summer all year long to create more impact within your community.

The program began with some helpful tips for working within partnerships.

Keys to Good Partnership

Building on this slide, there are some things to consider:

  • are your goals the same?
  • is the impact you want to make similar?
  • when you formalize your plan, make an MOU so everyone knows what is expected from one another.
  • Be honest with one another, especially with respect to what is working and not working.
  • It takes a lot of nurturing (phone calls, cross training, lunches, etc) to make partnerships thrive.  Invest that time
  • Always think about how you can work better together
After these tips, the presenters then moved to talking about examples of partnerships that have worked with their libraries and helped members of the community thrive.

Amy Twito discussed how in 2014 Seattle Public Library moved from just having Summer Reading to a Summer Learning model that was based on a white paper the library worked on.  (You can find the White Paper here.  It will download the pdf of the white paper to your computer.  I think there is a lot in here that the new Early Learning Library Workgroup can discuss as well!)  

For this presentation, Twito focused mainly a program called "Robot Backpacks for Family Learning", for which the Library, University of Washington, Pacific Science Center and other partners received an NSF grant to create backpacks that had everything in it you would need to build your own robot: a laptop, programming manuels, art supplies, etc.  The library then paired with a transitional housing group in the community and presented a variety of workshops that helped families there go step by step to creating a robot that told a portion of their family story.

Next to present were McChesney and Wunar, and they talked about the partnership between Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.  The Library approached the Museum as a way to learn how to theme their Summer Reading Program around STEAM.  The Museum, which is only in one location, saw this partnership as a way to expand their reach into every community in Chicago that had a library.  It was a win-win for both organizations.

One of the first steps they took to bring STEAM into the library was having Museum staff teach youth librarians easy experiments that would help demystify the idea that you have to be an expert to teach kids and get them excited about science.  You don't!  You can learn alongside the kids.

To demonstrate this, they had everyone in the audience do a science experiment: How many drops of water can fit on a penny?

Materials needed:
  • penny
  • cup of water
  • eye dropper/pipette
Place the penny in your hand.  With the eye dropper, drop one drop of water at a time onto the penny, counting as you go.

With this one simple experiment, it can lead to discussions about surface tension, gravity, counting, and so much more.

For some tips on STEAM programming at your library they suggested:

  • Define 1 big idea to use with each lesson
  • Think of an extension or connection you can make to children's literature
  • The process is the same for science can be similar to a reference interview.  You say things like: "What would happen?  Let's find out together! Why?"
  • Learning doesn't have to be like school, and in fact it shouldn't be.  Reading, animal shows, art, and more are all ways of learning that are different than what kids do in school.
  • If you want to start STEM training in your library, it helps to start by training a small group, and then this small group of people can then train a slightly larger cohort
  • You can find resources out there to help.  Try looking at:
After changing your summer reading program, you have to evaluate it, of course.  After five years of doing Summer Learning in partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago found:
  • Summer Reading participation had increased by 50%
  • there was an increase in STEM/STEAM programs throughout the library system
  • the Museum of Science and Industry is now in every community in Chicago
  • this partnership has increase giving by donors to the Museum
  • the partnership expanded to other programs
  • they also got more detailed information about using STEM in the library, that AnnMarie goes into detail on in her post High-impact STEM Events to Foster Collaboration
Final Tips About Changing from a Summer Reading Model to Summer Learning

  • It's okay to start small with STEAM and "pilot" a program
  • if you are going to do this change in your library, get feedback from staff and community and honestly listen to them
  • take your time: in Seattle this transition took 3 years to get fully underway

Final Tips About Partnerships for Success

  • Don't be shy in asking to partner with organzations
  • If you are passionate about serving children and talk about it with others, they will recognize your passion and want to help
  • When you are evaluating your partnerships look at:
    • outcome based evaluation
    • talk to parents, school-aged kids, parents of school-aged kids, teen volunteers
  • Do out reach
  • If you want to find partnerships, do a community asset map and look at what individuals, institutions and associations in your community you have that could help you meet your goals
  • Libraries often undervalue what we offer as partners.  Remember: we are out in our community in a way that many other organizations can't be, and we get lots of kids in our doors all the time.

- Jennifer

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