At this point in the summer, if you are an avid reader of this column, you know we have a Summer Learning Challenge. For weeks, we have discussed all this challenge has to offer the entire family. We’ve highlighted important figures, delved deeper into the activity badges and showcased the amazing incentives we are offering to those who participate. While there are still activity badges we could discuss (and I am sure we will before summer’s end), there is something even more amazing to share. Data!
Data is what influences the decisions we make daily. It would surprise some, but there is a rhyme and reason to our madness, and it is all based upon the data we collect. Don’t worry, we aren’t talking personal data, we are talking non-personally identifiable information, data that cannot be used on its own to trace, or identify a person. Looking at data helps us determine things about our services and programs like what’s working or not working, what’s needed and where our energy should be directed. Data from our challenges is no different. Based upon the information we glean, we are able to improve future challenges. And sometimes this data is shocking and not at all what we expected.
For example, we thought our activity badges would be the thing most people wanted to complete. They were created to appeal to those that have a hard time sitting still, perhaps don’t enjoy reading or those that want to get outdoors and experience life instead of reading about it. But as I looked at the data before writing this, that is not the story it told.
The activity badges are getting lots of use (1,896 activities have been completed thus far), but the No.1 earned badge was the genre challenge, where we ask participants to read books from a variety of genres we provide. What surprised me even more was that 88 percent of registered participants are actively reading. Meaning they are returning to log reading minutes regularly. And to top it all off, participants have logged 401,778 minutes in the past five weeks!
This is amazing news and we couldn’t be happier to see these numbers. As librarians, we strive to make reading an important part of everyone’s daily routine. It is hard to know what happens once patrons leave the building (and even harder when they don’t come in the building), but data doesn’t lie. We are happy to see that the community has embraced this challenge and that their love of reading is strong.
With two weeks left to go, can we break 500,000 minutes and get 100 percent reading participation? There is only one way to find out. Log on today to botetourtva.beanstack.org and help us make this dream a reality.
Jaime Duval
Eagle Rock Public Library
