Reading is All Fun & Games
A summer reading program mobile application
Overview
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Summer reading programs are a staple for most public libraries. "They help adults model reading activity for youth. And they provide a haven and a community for readers." (Cole, 2013) Both large and small libraries institute these programs which generally involve a set of books to read, or encourage children to read as many books as possible over the summer. There has always been a certain competitive element to summer reading programs with students competing to read the most, but it was never much of a game. So a new addition to this concept is gamifying these programs to make them more enticing. You may be asking yourself, what is gamifying? Well gamification is defined often as "making a non-game application more engaging by making it game-like." (Takahashi, 2011)
Many libraries are including more competitive gaming elements like prizes to their already established programs. For instance the Indianapolis Public Library is incorporating prizes for children and teens who earn a certain amount of points. Points are earned from reading and prizes get larger as points are accrued. A breakdown of the program is provided in the video on the left. |
Gamification isn't always just adding prizes though, transliteracy is taking hold in libraries creating interactive digital media. Libraries are now using games in mobile applications, augmented reality, and online to try to increase participation and excitement for the programs. Interactive media is definitely working as shown at Pierce County Library where they created a Teen Summer Program with a mobile application element. Students were able to reduce library fines and earn badges for reading. "The game platform increased participation in summer reading from about 200 participants county-wide to about 650 with practically no marketing" (Kim, 2015)
Games are often seen merely as a form of entertainment, but they require various skills such as problem solving, creativity, and they engage audiences. They can be a useful tool to encourage patrons to partake in a summer program.
Games are often seen merely as a form of entertainment, but they require various skills such as problem solving, creativity, and they engage audiences. They can be a useful tool to encourage patrons to partake in a summer program.
So what are we proposing?
This website wishes to show how libraries can incorporate transliteracy into their summer reading programs to improve reader interaction as well as the program's overall efficiency with our mobile application. We will cover a general proposal for creating a mobile application that children can use to motivate them to read more during the summer. We will then show some examples of libraries that this mobile application prototype might be best used within. Finally we will showcase research on gamification in library programs and how research has indicated the importance of this concept in action.
Image courtesy of QuoteFancy.com