Summer Matters: Making All Learning Count

Summer reading for children is a long standing and cherished tradition in public libraries across America, but today's kids need to master new skills and competencies. Today's summer programming needs to move beyond reading to engage children with hands-on activities, thus keeping their brains active even when school's out. Here, a team of librarians and educators from the Chicago Public Library (CPL) and Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry present a guide based on their award-winning, STEAM-inspired approach. They outline practical steps for libraries and cultural institutions to partner in creating a sustainable summer learning program that's both fun and educational. This book

• explains what STEAM is and why it's important for libraries;
• provides evidence-based research on summer slide, the achievement gap, and 21st century learning skills;
• walks readers through building a cultural partnership, collaborating efficiently, and sustaining the relationship into the future;
• offers tips for managing institutional change;
• provides guidance for developing a new vision for summer at the library, with pointers on adding learning tracks to existing programs and addressing design challenges;
• details how CPL evaluates and assesses their program; and
• includes templates for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), mission statement, logic model, and sample Summer Learning Challenge evaluations.

Loaded with innovative program ideas, this resource will ensure that learning continues even while school is out.

Elizabeth M. McChesney holds BA and MLIS degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where her graduate work specialized in service to children. She has worked in various capacities of children's librarianship for 28 years, all at the Chicago Public Library, where she is currently the director of System Wide Children's Services. In 2012, along with her team of children's librarians, she led the transformation of Chicago Public Library's summer offerings into a STEAM & Literacy Summer Learning Challenge which the system's children's librarians conduct each summer. This achievement earned her a 2014 Library Journal's Movers & Shakers award, the 2015 Founder's Award for Excellence from the National Summer Learning Association, and the 2016 John Cotton Dana Award. McChesney has written and spoken extensively about library service to children, performed as a professional storyteller, and has taught at the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

Bryan W. Wunar has worked in science education for the past 24 years. His work and research have focused on bridging informal and formal science education in order to extend learning beyond the classroom. He is currently the director of community initiatives in the Center for the Advancement of Science Education at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. In this role, he leads the museum's strategic efforts to engage youth, families, and communities in science learning experiences. He has served as the associate vice president for education and programs at Chicago's Adler Planetarium, senior director of the Science and Mathematics Curriculum Program at the Education Development Center, and as the director of the Alliance for Community Education at Loyola University in Chicago. Wunar holds a BS degree in biology, an MA degree in curriculum and instruction, and has completed all the coursework toward a PhD in educational psychology, all from Loyola University in Chicago.