Ep. 102 The Why of Summer

Sunshine and Stories Episode 102: The Why of Summer 

Episode Summary: 

Join Kate and Kate as they discuss why we might want to ask ourselves “Why do we do summer programming?” They also consider how reflecting deeply on our why as well as engaging with our communities of service around their summer needs may lead us to discover what’s really working well and where our opportunities to innovate might lie, including how we might consider what more equitable summer service could look like. Exploring and clarifying our why can be the first step in defining what impacts we and our communities want our summer program to have in our libraries and beyond. 

00:00 – Introduction
01:14 – Why ask why and the Five Whys tool
06:56 – Where is equitable service in your why?
10:09 – Creating outcomes from whys
16:39 – Book and program highlights
18:43 – Closing 

References:
Collaborative Summer Library Program
5 Steps of Outcome-Based Planning & Evaluation for Public Libraries by Melissa Gross, Cindy Mediavilla, and Virginia A. Walter 
5 Steps of Outcome-Based Planning & Evaluation for Youth Services by Melissa Gross, Cindy Mediavilla, and Virginia A. Walter 
Future Ready with the Library project (2016-2020)
Building Equity-Based Summers (BEBS) 
BEBS podcast Ep 1: The Why of Equity and Equitable Summer Service (full transcript) 
IDEO’s Design Kit: The Five Whys 
Arapahoe Libraries’ Teen Books with Artist Main Characters book list   
Wings in the Wild by Margarita Engle 
Almost American Girl: an illustrated memoir by Robin Ha 

Next Drop-in Chat:
Join us on August 27, 2024 at 11:00 am to noon Mountain Time for our next online Summer Drop-in Chat. No need to register. Come when you can, stay for as long as you can. See you soon! 

If you work in a library and gave us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode. 

Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here. 

This project is made possible in part by a grant from the US Institute of Museum and Library Service. 

Transcript

Sunshine and Stories podcast transcript for Episode 102  

[00:00] [music]  

Kate Compton: You're listening to Sunshine and Stories, a Kate-cast from the Colorado State Library's summer design studio with your hosts,   

Kate Brunner: Kate Brunner  

Kate Compton: And Kate Compton.  

Kate Brunner: Tune in every other week as we explore one summer reading topic. From colorful program ideas to community wide engagement to avoiding burnout, we have got you covered.  

Kate Compton: If you have other questions or want to dive into any topic further, check out Libraries Learn.org for our next live summer drop in chat date happening Tuesdays starting this fall. 

[00:43] Kate Compton: The lyrics to America the Beautiful were written by Katherine Lee Bates after an awe-inspiring trip to the top of Pikes Peak in 1893. I love this example of how colors can impact people, and though I don't know about her intentions before setting out, I can say that being inspired and full of awe is often the why behind my weekend hikes, which leads me to today's theme and one of the things we wanted to cover first when planning our podcast episodes. 

[01:14] Kate Compton: The why? Why do we even do summer programming, Kate? 

Kate Brunner: [laughs] I think that answer is going to vary depending on your community and your library, but I do think it's very important to ask that question. I think, why we ask why is an important thing to think about. I really am a big fan of this idea of asking why we do things and kind of thinking about that a little bit more deeply and maybe reminding ourselves why we do what we do. And then also sometimes it can be really inspiring to touch back into that. And also, if we realize we're not really sure or we don't really have a good solid answer for why we're doing something, then that creates an opportunity to maybe let go of something and maybe open up to something new, maybe a place where we have an opportunity for innovation. 

I also think it's a really important piece of the outcomes-based planning and evaluation approach which we're going to talk a little bit about today. And then also again in our episode on capturing impact as well. So, this is something like a model that I've been familiar with as part of being part of a few projects, one was Future Ready at the Library when I was at Pine River Library, which was a great partnership project between IMLS and YALSA and ARSL. We did a lot of work with career and college readiness programming for tweens. 

And then I'm also currently involved in a project that we're hoping to bring to Colorado soon called Building Equity-Based Summers. And we are talking a lot about the why of summer in that project. So, it's definitely a topic that is up for me, I think. And we'll definitely include some resources both in this episode and in the capturing impact episode around what outcomes-based planning and evaluation is and the value of asking why, especially when it comes to summer. 

[03:08] Kate Brunner: So, I mentioned the why can vary from community to community, from library to library. So, we're not going to tell -- I'm not going to tell anyone what their why should be. Or even, actually I think Kate, today we're not going to share any possible whys. We're just going to encourage asking the question because I think there are a lot of different whys out there when it comes to “Why do we do summer programming?” 

And community context matters so much in that, and so does a particular library’s needs or resources. So, I don't think anyone can tell anyone else why they should or should not be doing summer programming. I just want to encourage everyone to go forth and why, like definitely go ask yourself the question and kind of take some time to think about. And reflect on what your why might be. I do think there are some great tools out there for that and I know we've been talking about that a little bit, Kate. So, do you have a favorite tool for kind of figuring out what your why might be for summer programming that you’d like to share? 

[04:07] Kate Compton: It's hard for us to say we're not going to give you any whys and then leave you there. So, I think the Five Whys is a design thinking kind of strategy, a simple kind of effective tool to just really get at the root of the problem. Some people in the academic world would call this Root Cause Analysis, but we like to be a little more fun with things and think of it as a toddler who just continually asks why and why.  

But it really is just getting to kind of a challenge or something you're looking for in the community. Why do we do summer reading? Why aren't teens engaging in our summer reading? And then you just ask why again? It's called the Five Whys because you should ask it at least five times to kind of get to that root problem. But you can continue asking it. There might be ways to kind of dig deeper and deeper to find out why a problem is occurring. What are some of the other contexts in your community that are that are causing that why? 

Kate Brunner: Yeah, and I think when it comes to summer, it's also a great tool for identifying opportunities. When you can get all the way down into that fifth why, if you're starting with why do we do summer programming, that fifth why is really going to give you that place of opportunity and inspiration, I think. If you can work your way there. 

I think also for me sometimes when I use this tool it can be hard for me to not want to unpack my first answer. So especially when I do this with someone else, which is super helpful, you know, they ask me why do you do summer programming and I answer the first question and then I want to kind of dissect that more. But you kind of have to resist that urge. You either have to ask yourself, or the person you're doing this with asks you, whatever that answer was, you ask again. And why? Why that? Why that thing? 

And then kind of not self-censoring as you do it too, I think is key. You know, what's the first thing that comes up when somebody asks you “Why do you do that?” And then when you answer that question, “OK, and why do you do that?” And you just kind of keep going there. It seems kind of awkward, maybe at first, I think for me, when I first started using it. But I really have found it to be a very powerful tool to really get below the surface. What is that root why? What is that root opportunity or the understanding of why something in particular is happening? 

[06:29] Kate Compton: I love that. Yeah, I think as librarians, we like to have this solution and find the answer and this one you have to kind of hold back and wait for it kind of to uncover, I think maybe even uncover the “who” of your target audience too. 

Kate Brunner: Yeah. Yeah. I think that there's so much potential to see what's underneath when you use that tool. So, it sounds deceptively simple maybe, but I would definitely encourage folks to give it a try. 

Another thing that we've been talking about in the Building Equity-Based Summers program is where is equitable service in your why? So, when you're thinking about that why of summer, “who does that why serve?” and reflecting on that. There's a great conversation around the question of why and summer programs in the Building Equity-Based Summers podcast. So, if you’re really jamming on the podcasts and would love to have another library podcast in your feed, then I recommend you check that one out. The very first episode addresses this question of why, and we'll include a link to that podcast in our show notes for this episode. 

Kate Compton: That's a really interesting way of reframing that question and thinking about what is your community’s why. Who are you serving and what do they need? How can this program benefit them for the summer? As opposed to kind of internally thinking about what we want to get out of summer or what we're doing. 

Kate Brunner: I think that’s a great point and again another opportunity to go out and talk to kids, teens, adults, folks who are involved in your summer program, folks who are involved in programming in the library and you know, talk to them about why do they participate? Or if you run into folks who don't participate, why don't they? What may be the thing about your summer program that causes them to not engage it? That's helpful information as well. 

And then, you know, thinking about what design thinking calls your edge cases, right? The folks that you don't see a lot or the folks who are missing from your perspective. So, while you're out there talking to folks about their perspectives on summer and on why they come to the library or what they would love to see from the library during the summer then also thinking about who you are talking to. What cross section of your community are you talking to and being really mindful about trying to make an effort to talk to the folks that you are not seeing like the folks that might take a little bit of extra effort to reach out to and engage around exploring your community’s why. 

Kate Compton: This is a great segue into who can help you find those edge cases. Maybe you need a community partner engaged in helping your community thrive. Maybe they work with populations who aren't coming into the library. Can you get curious with this group here? What their community needs are and what barriers they're facing, what they're wanting and maybe they give you a new perspective around your why and what can inform your work. Talking to people who are engaging and hearing from those who aren't gives you data. It gives you a place to start as you hear trends and patterns that will inform your outcomes. 

Kate Brunner: Yeah, I think absolutely, I agree. I think being curious is the key here when you're exploring your own why and your community’s why. But getting to that place, I think I agree it helps you maybe clarify some particular outcomes. 

[10:09] Kate Brunner: Let's just talk about for a second that word outcome. What is an outcome? And sometimes we think about this, we have tendency to think about outputs instead of outcomes. So, I think it's good to kind of talk a little bit about the difference between the two. Outputs are really valuable. They are the information you collect. So, your output might be number of books distributed, or number of people signed up, or number of folks who completed your program; however, you're defining completion. That's data that is the result of things that have been happening in your program. But your outcomes are more about the impact that you want your program to have. When you're thinking about outcomes, those are really connected to the why, you know. Your why can potentially sort of drive your outcome. Being able to state I want my summer program to have this particular impact in my community, that's an outcome. That's a little bit broader, right? It has a more sort of holistic, more community-centered way of thinking about what you want your summer program to accomplish. 

So you know, if that sounds like a really big thing to take on or a very formal thing to take on, I think you can just think about it in terms of what does a successful summer program look like for you? And for your community? Connected to that why aspect, what would success look like based on why you want to do a program in the first place? And then when you're thinking about how you're defining success, that would lead to being able to sort of articulate an outcome. 

Kate Compton: I think it's also important to think about with that, your who. Because I think sometimes we get these really big outcomes like we want our entire community to all of a sudden be engaged or literate. And maybe in kind of narrowing your target, you give yourself some grace too and say, like, OK, this year we're really just going to see something around teens or people who haven't engaged in the past. Or something that allows you to kind of narrow that big goal too. 

Kate Brunner: Yeah. Yeah. And I think your outcomes can change from year to year as well. We're always learning. We're always iterating. I feel like library work in general is sort of all beta testing. We’re trying things out, seeing how they go. You know, when they're well received. When there are things we can continue to sustain with the resources we have then we can keep going with them and maybe make some tweaks here and there. But if they don’t work out them you know, we kind of have to figure out how to let go of those things and try something else. 

So, I think creating your outcomes each summer can be helpful because you can look at like “OK this is what we accomplished last summer. What do we want to accomplish this summer?” Sometimes maybe those things do stay the same. So that is always your call, right? Based on what you know about your community and what you know about your library. Because that’s where your local expertise is so important. So just thinking about that and thinking about this year, I really want to focus, like you said, “This year, I really want to focus on bringing this particular group of people or this particular portion of my community in to engage somehow with the library.” Who that is might change from year to year depending on what relationships you're looking to build at different points in time. That's also something to keep in mind. You can always shift and change your outcomes. You have complete control over that. 

[13:44] 
Kate Compton: And Kate, how many outcomes should you try to take on? 

Kate Brunner: [laughs] That is an excellent question. Yeah, I think it's good to think about sustainability and good to think about this is not necessarily a quantity over quality sort of sort of task, right? One outcome can be just as impactful as many. It's where your priorities are and where your resources are. And again, what that definition of success is. If you can define success for the upcoming summer in one outcome, then one it is, right? If you need more, then you need more. Or if you want to take on more, then you want to take on more.  

But realize as we're going to talk about in the capturing impact episode, you will need to probably collect some sort of information in some way, shape, or form to be able to judge whether or not you've been successful, whether or not you've achieved that outcome. So, you know thinking about how much do I want to take on in that process? What would be meaningful? Not just trying to do all the things to do all the things, but what is the most meaningful thing? Meaningful outcome and then meaningful way of measuring that outcome that I can take on this summer? This is I think a good way to think about it in a way that brings that sustainability piece in too. 

Kate Compton: I love the reframing. I think there are so many things in libraries that we just do because they've always been done. And this kind of gives us some framework for thinking about why we're doing it. And then in the next episode, we’ll talk a little bit more about “how.” I think it's just a quick little spark of curiosity around what you're doing and how to kind of change that up a little too. 

Kate Brunner: Yeah, I think that's the key, right? The curiosity piece is key. So, I think what I'm encouraging folks to do is get curious. Get curious about your summer program, you know? Think about that. Why are we doing what we're doing? Where are the opportunities to hang on to what is really, really working, what is really meaningful for our community? And where are there opportunities to let go of doing something because we've always done it, but it isn't necessarily meaningful anymore?  And kind of giving ourselves permission to get curious about what we could do instead. 

Kate Compton: Yeah, I think that giving ourselves permission and being effective, efficient like that doesn't need to be more work. We're not asking you to add on new things. It's just looking at what you're doing and is it serving you? Is your summer program helping you accomplish the things you want and your community wants? 

Kate Brunner: Yeah, I'm excited to further this conversation when we talk a little bit about the art of capturing impact, because I think there are a lot of fun ways that you can do that. I think that will be a great way to continue the conversation in another episode. 

[16:39] 

Kate Brunner: Our book recommendations today are related more generally to the theme of art than to this episode's discussion topic. But they do showcase main characters who find their own why through their art. Many thanks to the folks at Arapahoe Libraries’ Teen Services who created a great list of young adult books with main characters who are artists. If you want to check out the whole list, you’ll find a link to it in this episode’s show notes. 

The first book that caught my eye was Wings in the Wild by Margarita Engle. This novel in verse is about a young Cuban woman whose family’s secret garden filled with protest art sculptures carved from native trees is discovered by the Cuban government after a hurricane, which leads to the arrest of her artist parents. After their arrest, she escapes to Central America and her why drives her to get involved with protecting the environment while also advocating for imprisoned Cuban artists like her parents. I've loved everything I've ever read from Margarita Engle. So of course, I snagged this one via Libby as soon as I read the description.  

The second title from this list I want to highlight is a graphic memoir called Almost American Girl by Robin Ha. It is about her experiences immigrating to the United States from South Korea and what happened when her mother enrolled her in a comic drawing class in Huntsville, AL. It took me personally way too long to embrace modern graphic novels. But thanks to a few colleagues who pushed me to learn more about them, I've learned to deeply appreciate the way art and prose come together to create such meaningful texts. If you are not yet a graphic novel person, consider giving this one a try for the sake of your summer book lists and displays.  

We've also got another programming highlight for you celebrating the way art is already happening in Colorado libraries. Today's idea comes from Delta County Libraries, where the folks at the Cedaredge Library just held a teen painting party. They provided all the supplies for their community’s teens to create their own acrylic paintings. I thought it was especially wonderful how their marketing encouraged teens to “come be surprised” by what they can create. 

[18:43] 

Kate Brunner: That's our Kate cast for today, y’all but we hope you'll join the upcoming community drop in discussion.  

Kate Compton: We're hosting these discussions all year long. All Colorado library professionals involved in summer programming are welcome. No need to register, stay for the full hour or just pop in to say hi to colleagues across the state. Details for the next drop-in session can be found in the show notes for this episode and on Libraries Learn.org the Colorado State Library’s continuing education calendar and archive.  

Kate Brunner: We'd like to say thank you to all the Colorado library professionals who shared book recommendations, program successes and other artful ideas with us as we were designing this year's podcast. This project is also made possible by a grant from the US Institute for Museum and Library Services.  

Kate Compton: Thanks for joining us and we'll catch you next time.  

[19:30] [music]