Online Summer Reading Program

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Loudoun County Public Library (LCPL) prioritizes the opportunity to inspire residents of all ages and backgrounds to experience the joy of reading and learning. One of LCPL’s most important related services is the Summer Reading Program. SRP, as it is known in Loudoun each year, is a series of creative programs, featuring themed reading and educational topics, as well as participant challenges culminating in end-of-summer prizes at the individual and school level. The Summer Reading Program is designed for all, with challenges specifically aimed at four age groups: Pre-readers (0-5 years), children (6-12 years), teens (13-18 years) and adults (19+ years). It has become our top community engagement tool of the entire year.When COVID hit in March 2020, the program, which was already planned for our traditional in-person approach, fell into jeopardy. Budgets were temporarily frozen, meeting rooms were closed off, and many staff were sent home. But through the creativity and the hard work of staff, and with the support from Loudoun County Government, the program was reinvented in less than three months, held at a fraction of its usual cost, and attracted more than 7,000 registrants in the Summer Reading Challenge, plus nearly 10,000 individual program attendees.