Young Cultural Creators

YCC and SeaBritain 2005

The Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge in libraries: 'The Reading Voyage'

During the summer almost all libraries in the UK run a reading challenge for children and young people.

'The Reading Voyage Crew in the Crow's Nest

Children borrow and read up to 6 books during the summer, collecting stickers for each book they read. At the end of the summer they get a certificate recording their achievement, and a medal if they have completed the challenge. They also get the chance to talk with library staff about their books, and attend linked activities at the library.

The theme of this year's national summer reading challenge in libraries is 'The Reading Voyage.'

This nautical theme has been chosen to complement SeaBritain 2005 and provides an ideal basis for YCC activity during the summer holidays in libraries, museums, archives and a range of inspirational venues.

Here are some ways in which you could run YCC and 'Reading Voyage' linked activity.

• As a one-off event

• As a 3-4 week programme during the summer

• Using the Internet

• Working with schools

• Working with playschemes

1. As a one-off event

This can be publicised as part of the summer activities programme of all partners involved.

• Library partnership with a local museum, archives/record office, or any inspiration centre such as those described above

• Plan together a single event, either in the library or at the partner venue. For example your activity may centre on maps and documents at the record office, or facsmiles brought to the library.

• Make connections between reading and creativity through your chosen theme. You could invite a writer or illustrator whose books link up with that theme to explore the connections with the children, and work with them on producing their own writing or illustration. If it's not possible to work with a writer, you could still focus on a particular book and make the connections, using local skills and knowledge, maybe in a writing or storytelling workshop.

• This one-off event would be best as a half- day session so that there is time for children to produce their own creative work - maybe with some finishing off at home.

• Arrange an exhibition of the work - to show at the library and at the partner venue.

2. As a 3-4 week programme during the summer

Again this can be part of the summer activities programme of al partners involved.

• Library partnership with a local museum, archives/record office, or any inspiration centre such as those described at the top of this section

• Give this YCC/Reading Voyage programme an identity so that children want to belong to it and remember to keep coming as often as they can during the summer. You could set it up as a Reading Voyage club, or link it in with a weekly date when children come to talk with library staff about their summer reading and get their stickers.

• Plan each session so that it also works as a one-off, as some children will only be able to come to one or two events during the holiday.

1 st week: Tell children all about what they'll be doing, who they'll be meeting, where they'll be going: give them a programme to take home. A chance to borrow books, and look at websites and resources, with information about the theme they will be exploring, and the writer or illustrator they'll be meeting and/or reading. You could give children a notebook or folder for a simple diary about what they do and find out, and to keep together their own writing and art work from the project. Go through any arrangements for their 'inspiration venue' visit on the second week; you maybe need to send an invitation home to parents for this.

2 nd week: Visit to inspiration venue, maybe also to meet with writer, or storyteller etc, who inspires the children's responses to the venue, and their ideas fro their own creative work. You may wish to arrange this so that it is open to more children as well as the 'Reading Voyage' club members. Build in some workshop time so that the children have their own work to take home - and ideally bring back to the library in the following week.

3 rd week: Children bring their work from the previous week's visit to show the writer, and/or library staff, and spend time crafting and completing it, and preparing it for a special display, play or performance. Work could be displayed in a library 'gallery', or in special folders, which children could then take to school at the beginning of term to show what they have done.

4 th week : Celebration - Invite family and friends, take photographs, and have a party!

'Poopy and Jim from the Reading Voyage Crew'

3. Using the Internet

For a Reading Voyage Internet-based YCC activity session

• Choose a sea theme or a particular picture, document or artefact about which there is information on-line - eg. the picture by Turner of the 'Fighting Temeraire', a ship which played a part in the Battle of Trafalgar; or the theme of 'Pirates' Have a look at the section SeaBritain 2005 Themes on this website

• Then choose a particular book and author to link with your theme - eg. a book or story about Nelson to link with research about the Fighting Temaraire; or 'Pirate Diary' by Richard Platt and Chris Riddell.

• Your chosen author may also have their own website so that you can connect with them on-line. You may want to focus on one of the authors featured in the Summer Reading Challenge website

• Develop ideas for creative work, inspired by the theme and the resources explored - eg. writing entries for a diary of a midshipman on board the Temeraire.

4 . Working with schools

Whatever YCC Reading Voyage activity you run in the summer holidays, planning and promoting this with schools is very valuable.

Working with a local school could provide an opportunity to encourage children who might not otherwise come to the library, museum or other cultural places, to come along to the YCC sessions: through the schools you may be able to send special invitations to families about the events.

See if there are ways in which the school can celebrate children's creative work from the summer when they come back to school after the holidays - for example their YCC notebook/folder may count towards their personal achievement records.

'The Reading Voyage Ship's Parrot'

5. Working with playschemes

Holiday playschemes and summer schools may also be perfect partners for planning a YCC programme like those described above. Key elements of this could be:

• Choosing a SeaBritain theme to link and inspire activities

• A visit to the library and a visit to a museum/inspiration site, with the opportunity to explore and enjoy each of these venues, and their resources

• Art, writing or craft inspired by these visits

• A display of young people's work at the library