Ep. 105 To Prize or Not to Prize

Sunshine and Stories Episode 105: To Prize or Not to Prize 

Episode Summary: 
This week Kate & Kate talk summer library program tracking strategies, as well as the pros and cons of offering different types of incentives during the summer. They also explore how both tracking strategies and incentives programs might connect to and support the outcomes you set for yourself based on why you’re designing a summer library program in the first place.  

Listeners may want to check out Episodes 102 and 103 for a more in-depth discussion around identifying your summer why and outcome-based planning and evaluation for summer library programs. 

00:00 – Introduction
00:59 – Let’s talk tracking strategies
08:46 – What about prizes or incentives?
15:40 – How does tracking connect to capturing impact?  
16:55 – Book and program highlights
18:55 – Closing 

References:
Collaborative Summer Library Program
Bright by Brigit Young
The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin
Pikuni Bigfoot Storytelling Project 

Next Drop-in Chat:
Hey Colorado library folks! Join us on October 8, 2024 at 11:00 am to noon Mountain Time for our first 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 105   

[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.  

[00:41] Kate Compton: Palisades held its first Peach Day Festival in 1909, hosted by President William Howard Taft. And this fruit’s reputation has stood the test of time. In my opinion, these colorful, juicy fruits are one of Colorado's biggest summer prizes.

[00:59] Kate Compton: On today's episode, we're talking about tracking and prizes. When we think of summer reading, one of the first things that comes to my mind is the little logs that I had as a kid. I'm always thinking about tracking, and I think libraries traditionally have tracked books. The number of books that are read throughout a summer or hours. And something we want to really bring to the forefront of this episode is thinking about your community. You're the expert in your own community and you know how people in your community are going to respond. But maybe this year you allow people to make their own goals.

And as you're thinking about how people are tracking and what they're tracking, being intentional about what people have access to. Does it make sense to be putting things online on a platform? Do people have access to Wi-Fi? Does it make more sense to have something analog or a hybrid of both?

And then when we're thinking about the goals that people are keeping, making sure there's a balance so that everyone can be successful and engaged. And maybe thinking about other ways for people to participate, maybe it's not just books this year, especially with the theme of art. Maybe we're thinking about ways for people to experience art, visit different community murals or sculptures, go see performances that are happening locally. What art performances and programs are you having that you can encourage people to come to? So, no matter what you're tracking, being intentional about how that works for your community.

Kate Brunner: And I think there's a piece there also on thinking about why are we tracking. Why are we tracking what we're choosing to track or what we're offering people the opportunity to track? So, I'd love, Kate, to hear your thoughts around that as well. But I think that there's a lot to unpack there. There's a lot to think about. I think this is also going to connect in with what your desired outcomes are and how you're going to capture impact, which is a topic we talked about in another episode. And I think there are a lot of questions around extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation and whether or not tracking helps build community in our libraries. And so, I'd also love to hear what you think about things to consider when we're questioning why we're tracking what we're tracking.

Kate Compton: I guess when I think of tracking and what we're tracking, how we're tracking it, I always think about being a librarian and trying to start that conversation with the public about like, have you signed up for summer reading? Did you get your log yet? All of those things. And as a librarian, having something visual that got people to ask me about what was happening. “Ohh, I see this giant mural happening over here. What's going on?” “Ohh, this is part of our summer reading. Did you sign up?” Or here's a stack of lunch boxes or canvases or whatever it is that you're giving away to get people excited. Then having the people ask you always felt like ohh this is an easy way to get, especially adults, involved and engaged with what we're doing. 

I love the big community art pieces or kind of murals as you're tracking different experiences or hours, because I think that really does show that everyone is working together. It kind of brings people together and also is this big visual. I've heard again and again that little kids love the bingo cards or something that they're physically tracking. And I know for myself, I love a list and being able to check off when I've done something. So, I definitely fall into that like extrinsic need. I need my list of things to do or hours to keep for sure. [laughs]

Kate Brunner: Yeah, I am definitely a list person too. I like that little I get my little dopamine hit when I can cross something off my list and that sense of achievement. I do think there's also a marketing aspect when we think about tracking. And you know, that also ties into what we're going to talk about a little bit later in the episode; incentives as well. There are so many different facets of this when we talk about what we're tracking and why we're tracking it. And then I think also you mentioned a couple of ways how we can track from a community aspect. But what are some of the other ways that we can potentially track different types of tasks or topics or experiences that we're folding into what we're asking people to keep track of during a summer program?

Kate Compton: So, I think there are a list of different sources that libraries use and we're just going to share a few with you. We don't endorse any of these. These are just kind of ideas from libraries around Colorado. But some people are using Beanstack, Read Squared and easy SRP. Those are all paid for platforms that allow you to kind of manipulate what you are tracking and allow people to virtually track those items. They often do have a printout analog piece that you can use as well.

There is the open-source option. The Great Reading Adventure does require a little more tech savvy wherewithal to put that together, but it is something that's open source and free for libraries to use. Definitely seen the bingo cards, sticker murals or sticker sheets. Even just Google forms where people are tracking. That might kind of fall more into the open source, keeping track of where people are along their journey. 

And then I love the community visual representations I've talked about of murals, thermometers, or different images that kind of fit that theme for the summer.

Are there any other ideas that you have, Kate?

Kate Brunner: I think I would just add on to a couple of these, maybe. A lot of the paid platforms I've seen do upload badges that are connected to the collaborative Summer Library program theme. And so, if you're using one of those platforms, Beanstack, Read Squared, they often have a connection to the CSLP theme that is an option if your library is using that theme. That can kind of help you know round out the aesthetic and connect to the marketing that you may be using.

And I think the open-source option is such a great option if you have folks in the library with the skills to set that up and manage that for you. It's so great that that exists. The Great Reading Adventure is kind of the open-source version of Read Squared. So, if you're familiar with either one of those, I think you could go back and forth between the two.

And then I have also seen sort of a combination of. like you were mentioning before. An analog method and a digital method together. So, I've seen some folks combine the bingo card with a Google form. You know, they use the Google form as the way that people sign up to participate in the summer program and then they hand out paper bingo cards. And as those bingo cards come back in, then in the spreadsheet that you can export a Google form’s responses to, they click off people as completed. That's if they're tracking the number of folks who complete the summer reading program, however they're qualifying completed as a data point because they feel that has value to them.

So, I think there are lots of different ways to go at this depending on what kind of things you're choosing to track and how you want to build that system for your library.

[08:46] Kate Compton: Yeah, I love thinking about how people complete and what that means for people. And I think that kind of leads into the idea of prizes and whether you get a prize at the end, whether you get a prize just for signing up. There can be kind of some pros and cons to how we prize and what we prize.

Again, I always think about being that librarian that has to convince somebody to give me their name and get signed up for summer reading. And so having something exciting to say. “Ohh, did you get your raffle ticket to get into the ballet that's happening this summer?” would be an easy way for me to get somebody engaged.

I do know that sometimes if you're giving away the incentive at the beginning, then you're maybe losing steam throughout the summer because people aren't continually engaging in working through hours or different experiences. And I think certainly depending on what prizes you have; you've got to have the space for it and some of them can also be kind of expensive. You have to find something that might appeal to everyone unless you're having different prizes for all the different ages, which then requires a lot of staff time and resources just to kind of keep that all together.

Do you have any other thoughts about prizes, Kate?

Kate Brunner: Yeah, I think it connects to what we're tracking and why we're tracking it. I think as well, you know, if the prizes you're giving out are directly connected to say, something like quantity of books read, you kind of have to think about the folks for whom reading and completing a book might be a slower project. So, I think that's sometimes where if you want to track something related to reading and then give prizes for it, minutes or hours read might be an alternative that is also inclusive of folks who may have a slower reading pace. 

I think that this idea of sort of giving people an incentive to sign up, it definitely generates excitement. You know, if you're having a kickoff event like we talked about the advantages of having a kickoff event, if you have something to give away at that kickoff event, I think that also continues to build that excitement. So, I think that that's also an option. 

And then just I agree thinking about are incentives an effective way in your particular community to keep people engaged throughout the summer? What's the length of your program as well, I think would also affect that. So just thinking about whether or not that makes incentives some kind a beneficial thing for you to consider in your community. Or if it's sort of one more thing you've always been doing that you could maybe think about. Do I want to continue to do this? Is it something that I've received really good feedback from my community on? Is it something they look forward to every year? Or is this an additional piece of my summer program that is maybe a more of a stressor than a benefit to the program as a whole?

Kate Compton: I also love, with this theme, the ability to kind of tap into your community and see what art, what music, what performances are happening. And see if you can work out some sort of deal with the local community to raffle off some of these bigger prizes to get to go to the musical or dance performance. Maybe there's even art or music classes. So, then you’re one, doing some marketing early on while you're reaching out to those different businesses and letting them know, “Hey, the library exists, we're doing this fun thing this summer.” But also, then reinvesting in your own community. I think there's even a chance for doing a little co-creation with your library folks and kind of getting them to tell you what are some of their favorite art things happening this summer.

Kate Brunner: Yeah, I think there's definitely the opportunity to potentially maybe build some partnership relationships with that that didn't exist previously. Or you never know, recruit someone to put on a program for you as well that you could add to your summer too.

Kate Compton: And then I love. I've heard you talk about a few different kinds of fun alternative ideas you've heard about throughout the state around kind of community improvement where instead of getting a prize, maybe you're just getting a chip and getting to vote on something, whether it's something within the library, maybe donating to an outside organization. Maybe it's something as simple as what you'd like the new librarian’s haircut to look like or what color she's going to dye her hair for a week. [laughs]

Kate Brunner: I've definitely seen that one be popular when it comes to teen library programs. Lots of very intrepid teen librarians out there, you know, willing to take a chance on what color their hair might be at the end of the summer. Giving the young people in their program the opportunity to vote on, you know, what color should the librarian dye their hair at the end of the summer? [laughs] So those are kind of fun. I think there's also, you know, been a couple of shaving cream pie in the face kind of rewards that have come out of teen programs. Mostly those kinds of things seem to be very appealing to that age group and a lot of fun. 

And then I have seen a couple of libraries do this sort of chip thing. So, you finish a bingo card, or you finish a book, or you finish some sort of milestone in the tracking system that the library is using, and you get a vote on something like a vote on maybe the type of end of event party. Are we gonna have a pizza party or have a movie night? Or something like that. Or also the opportunity to say you know we want the Friends of the Library to donate to this other community organization, the food bank or something like that. So, the opportunity to participate in making a decision around where they would like to contribute in the community is another incentive that's not necessarily taking home a book or pulling out a ring from a bucket of plastic rings or something like that. So instead of it being a physical object that someone takes with them, it's the opportunity to have a voice in contributing to their community.

Kate Compton: Classical music or rock music at the finale party? Or giving people kind of that choice around different art themes. That's really fun. I love that idea.

[15:27] Kate Brunner: I think there are a lot of different ways we can think about incentives and tracking; a lot of different methods out there to use. And then I think that also connects like I said into what sort of data we're collecting and why? And so, I think that these two topics are really interlocked with each other. I'm glad that we're dedicating an episode to this idea of the logistics of tracking and the ideas around different ways to do that and different prizes to offer or different other incentive ideas to offer. And then also having a separate discussion around the outcomes that we're going for in our summer programs and how we might be defining and measuring success when it comes to those outcomes too.

So, I think that those are two different pieces of the of the conversation and I'm really glad that we got the opportunity today to talk specifically about tracking and prizes. And so, I would say any other last thoughts you might have today, Kate, on these two topics?

Kate Compton: I guess for me it's just that you're the expert in your community and you know what's going to work. And also utilize the community, get some feedback around what might work too, and what people are looking for. Allow people to vote on whether they want a bingo card this year or whether they want to track hours, maybe get some excitement before summer even starts.

[16:56] Kate Brunner: Let's talk about a couple of middle grade novels that explore what else we might gain from a contest or challenge beyond the prize itself. Bright by Bridget Young is a sweet story of a young woman who never thought she was very smart until she joins her school's quiz team and learns a great deal about herself and her own capabilities. You might recognize the audiobook narrator for this one if you decide to pick up the audiobook as none other than Mara Wilson, who starred in Matilda back in the day.

For a book about a different kind of contest, with a different kind of prize at stake, a bit older title, The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin has been described as a cross between the Westing Game and Encyclopedia Brown. In this story, you'll meet Winston Breen, his sister and all the other family and friends he pulls into a great scavenger hunt. He'll also pull in the reader, since the book itself is full of puzzles to solve just for the fun of it. If a young reader loves this one, they're in luck because there are two more Winston Breen adventures that complete the trilogy.

And speaking of creative competition, when I learned about Rampart Library District’s Pudding Pictionary program, I knew I had to find an episode to share about this one with our listeners. Tweens and teens were invited to come to the library, to quote “paint like a Sasquatch”. Players were challenged to play the game by drawing their Pictionary pictures in mud like Bigfoot might do. The mud, of course, was chocolate pudding. This makes me wonder what else you could use for a creative Pictionary-by-paint program besides pudding.

One additional note I'll add here whether or not you've been researching Colorado's cryptids for years, or only ever experienced a passing curiosity about them. Check out the Pikuni Bigfoot Storytelling Project on YouTube to hear directly from a group of Native women who called themselves the Sasquatch Aunties as they share different tribal perspectives about Bigfoot.

[18:55] 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.  

[19:44] [music]