Libraries spend their summer months delivering programs to promote reading, inspire curiosity, and encourage use of the library’s expansive resources.

As these Summer Reading Programs draw to a close, we begin to evaluate our efforts — because when you spend months planning something, you want to know if it really worked the way you’d hoped. Did our programs reach enough kids and parents? What worked well, and what could we do better next time?

At the Jefferson County Library, we’ve been tracking attendance and gathering feedback to help us answer these questions. Here’s what we’ve found so far:

Participation: Across the county (including the city of Port Townsend) more than 720 people participated in the Summer Reading Program. That included patrons who registered at the Jefferson County Library, our Bookmobile and the Port Townsend Public Library. In fact, 33 percent of the total registrations occurred on the Bookmobile. What a great statistic to show how valued - and valuable - our mobile services are in rural Jefferson County.    

Impact: Participants and parents/caregivers were asked to evaluate the impact of participation in the Summer Reading Program. Of more than 50 responses received so far: 100 percent of parents/caregivers reported their child maintained or increased their reading skills; 88 percent reported their child is a more confident reader; 90 percent of participants reported they read more often; and 87 percent of participants said they enjoy reading more. By encouraging increased reading frequency, enjoyment and confidence, we hope to reduce the “summer slide” often seen in school-aged children’s academic performance.

We also received great comments and suggestions. Many participants liked the prizes, finding new books to read, and events like the magic show and drumming workshop. Parents/caregivers liked the goal-setting and rewards. Suggestions for improvement included extending the challenge for overachievers, free ice cream on Fridays, and weekly emails to participants with reminders about upcoming events.

I don’t think we’ll be able to manage weekly free ice cream, but the other suggestions will certainly be considered. Thanks to everyone who was involved, and we hope to have even more participants next year.

Our fall programs are already underway at the Jefferson County Library, and we’d like to highlight three events you won’t want to miss.

First, our Poets in Conversation series continues with Liz Cooperman and Thomas Walton, authors of the book The Last Mosaic, who will share their experience collaborating on at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 5. Next is our new series on financial literacy, co-sponsored by Kitsap Bank. Beginning on Sept. 10, Money Mondays will address topics that include online banking, understanding credit scores, cyber security, and money smarts when traveling. Each session will begin at 5 p.m.

For a detailed list of dates and topics, see our online calendar at: https://jclibrary.info/events-calendar/

Our biggest fall event continues to be the annual Huntingford Humanities Lecture, named in honor of Sara Louise (Sally) Huntingford. This year we have selected author Dr. Thor Hanson as the Huntingford Lecturer. Hanson lives in the Puget Sound region and is well known as an award-winning author and biologist. His most recent book, “Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees,” details the history of bees from their origins over 120 million years ago to today. He also writes for children - his book “Bartholomew Quill” explores biodiversity from a crow’s point of view.

Hanson’s reputation as an engaging speaker for all ages has made him a sought-after presenter, and we are very excited to have him with us for this event — so mark your calendars for the Huntingford Lecture at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Chimacum High School Auditorium. May you get all the ice cream you want and “fall” into a good book soon.