Maryland State Library LibGuides: Maryland Summer Library Program: Research & Best Practices

Research and Best Practices

Summer library programs (SLPs) encourage children and teens to practice reading and literacy skills during out-of-school time, which can help maintain proficiency and counter the “summer slide” (term for a decrease in reading proficiency of students who do not read during the summer). SLPs offer enriching activities for the entire family and community.

When you promote your SLP to stakeholders, funders, and the community, lead with the message that your library’s summer activities and opportunities support student learning and family engagement. These links to research and best practices will help you make the case:

The vision of the National Summer Learning Association is for every child to be safe, healthy, and engaged in learning during the summer. The NSLA connects summer learning program providers and stakeholders with tools, resources, and expertise to improve program quality, generate support, and increase youth access and participation.
Accelerate Summer: A Partnership for Learning is an IMLS-funded collaboration of the NSLA and the Urban Libraries Council to research how public libraries are delivering summer learning activities. The findings point to the importance of participatory activities, community engagement, partnerships, and support from local officials.
Adopting a Summer Learning Approach for Increased Impact: a YALSA Position Paper is a 2016 publication that calls on libraries to “expand their efforts beyond summer reading in order to identify and meet the particular needs of the youth in their community”, including building workplace skills, improving English language skills, and offering safe spaces for creativity
The Collaborative Summer Library Program’s Summer Reading White Paper (PDF), updated in 2015, considers the state of research on SLPs, their effectiveness and best practices.