LibGuides Home: Summer With the Library: Summer Symposium 2025

Equitable Summers: Connecting to Youth with the Why and Traditions of Summer

Summer reading is a deep seeded tradition in public libraries but why do we do it? What is the end goal? Within the makeup of summer reading, are long standing traditions, registration, finishing goals, page counting, and more. Some of the traditions of summer amplify the joys provided by the library, but others may leave out the most marginalized in a community. Regular evaluation of summer traditions set us, and our communities, up for success!

Equitable Summers
Connecting to Youth with the Why and Traditions of Summer
Reflecting on Equity at the Center of the Summer Why- Handout
Root Cause Analysis Activity
Your Summer Why- Attendee Responses
Traditions of Summer- Attendee Responses

Proud Programs Program Swap

Summer Symposium attendees brought program outlines to share. Roughly the programs can be broken up into the below age groups. Scan and see what you'd like to borrow for your library!

End Hunger CT!

End Hunger CT! is a statewide anti-hunger and food security organization. By focusing on advocacy, outreach, education, and research, EHC! serves as a comprehensive anti-hunger resource for policymakers, community organizations, and low-income families.

iREAD Summer Programming

Book Club Jenga
We’ve all been there—kids or teens show up to your book club, and no one wants to talk, or no one has read the book you’re supposed to be reading. Never fear, you can always gamify your book club with Book Discussion Jenga!
Coding WIthout Screens
So much of coding focuses on robots or computers. Take a step back and look at the basics of coding, logic, and puzzles. Patrons work together to play games and solve challenges. This program works well as an hour-long program with different stations. Participants can either rotate on a schedule or on their own time.

Replicate a block challenge. Have large Jenga blocks available and then pictures of different block structures (five stacked on top of each other, four in a square, etc.). Participants direct their partners to put the blocks in the proper order, using only words and not showing them the photo.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Divide the storytime room/corner into two sections (A and B).

Have patrons sit in the middle of the space as you begin reading Endlessly Ever After: Pick Your Path to Countless Fairy Tale Endings! by Laurel Snyder (or another Choose Your Own Adventure Book).

For each decision, patrons will have to stand up and have 5 seconds to make their choice and move to one side to indicate their choice
Solo Roleplaying Games
A unique writing exercise! Tabletop roleplaying games for just one player. Solo games use journaling and imaginative play to allow players to craft their own stories guided by the game’s
framework. Solo games are rapidly growing in popularity and are ideal for library collections or gamenights, offering patrons a chance to enjoy roleplaying without social pressure.

Building Accessible Summer Programming

This session combines general statistics and definitions related to accessibility with guidance on making library programs more inclusive.

Building Accessible summer Programming