Maricopa County Reads 2021

City of Chandler — Regular Meeting (2021-11-16)

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Maricopa County Reads 
2021 Summer Reading Program 
 
   
Summary & Report

1 
 
Table of Contents 
 
List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... 2 
Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 3-4 
Goals and Outcomes ....................................................................................................................... 4-5 
Overall Statistics ............................................................................................................................. 5-7 
Marketing ....................................................................................................................................... 8-9 
Software ............................................................................................................................................ 9 
Game Content ................................................................................................................................. 10 
Challenges ........................................................................................................................... 11 
Community Experiences ....................................................................................................... 12 
Events ................................................................................................................................. 13 
Sponsors and Incentives ................................................................................................................... 14 
Free Book Incentive ............................................................................................................. 15 
Public Surveys .................................................................................................................................. 16 
Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 17 
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................... 18 
Maricopa County Library District .......................................................................................... 18 
Participating Libraries .......................................................................................................... 19 
Maricopa County Partners .................................................................................................... 20 
Partner Organizations .......................................................................................................... 20

2 
 
List of Figures 
 
Figure 1: System Wide Participants and Achievers 2018-2021 .................................................................... 6 
Figure 2: 2021 Participant and Achievers by Library System ........................................................................ 6 
Figure 3:  2021 Participants and Achievers by Age and Library System ....................................................... 7 
Figure 4: Social media graphics ..................................................................................................................... 8 
Figure 5: New avatar hairstyles in 2021 ...................................................................................................... 10 
Figure 6: Top 10 Challenges ........................................................................................................................ 11 
Figure 7: Top 10 Community Experiences .................................................................................................. 12 
Figure 8: Most viewed streaming events .................................................................................................... 13 
Figure 9: Summer Reading Sponsor logos .................................................................................................. 13 
Figure 10: Logos for drawing prize organizations ....................................................................................... 13 
Figure 11: Top ordered prize books ............................................................................................................ 13

3 
 
Overview 
 
Maricopa County Library District (MCLD) is proud to share the success of its annual online, 
countywide Summer Reading Program. From June 1st to August 1st all public libraries and two tribal 
libraries (65 locations, representing 171 library systems), the Maricopa County Sherriff’s Office Library 
and, new this year, the Maricopa County Durango Juvenile Facility encouraged over 53,000 county 
residents to participate in our Summer Reading Program. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic still 
effecting our approach to library services offered, the opening of our doors and a proactive marketing 
campaign led to a significant jump in participation numbers from last year while maintaining 
engagement by those participants. 
 
Our primary goals for the 2021 Summer Reading Program were to interrupt the summer slide 
and promote literacy among children and families. To meet those goals our objectives focused on 
encouraging parents and caregivers to model positive reading behaviors to their children, promote 
reading at least twenty minutes a day, and building home libraries. We incorporated multiple strategies 
to achieve these objectives into the Great Reading Adventure software and offline in our marketing 
strategy and building relationships in communities.   
Each year we build the Summer Reading Program around a theme provided by the 
Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP), this year we celebrated animal stories with “Tails and 
Tales”.  The Arizona State Library supplies supporting materials created by CSLP to each of the 
participating libraries. MCLD staff and representatives from many of the 17 library systems planned a 
comprehensive program that included an interactive online platform to record program activity, digital 
badges, challenges, prizes and sponsored coupons, community experiences, a series of free and 
engaging virtual events, and a marketing campaign to spread awareness. 
We continued our partnership with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to provide a Summer 
Reading Program to adults experiencing incarceration with the goal of reducing recidivism. This 
program positively affects this community by encouraging them to read for learning and enjoyment 
and incentivizes them with the ability to select their next books to read with each completed log. The 
dates for this program were extended to better fit their library structure. Participants completed 1,243 
reading logs from June 1st to September 15th.  
We established a new partnership to bring the Summer Reading Program to kids in the 
                                                          
1 This year the Morristown volunteer library was closed and did not participate.

4 
 
Maricopa County Durango Juvenile Detention Center. In conjunction with the Phoenix Public Library, 
we helped the detention center run the program at their school so that kids can engage with the 
online program to track their own reading to earn coupons and a free book.  
 
Goals and Outcomes 
 
The two primary goals of the Summer Reading Program are: 
1. Interrupt the summer slide, the common term given to the learning loss experienced by 
children while transitioning between school years. 
2. Promote literacy among children and their families. 
As children and families recover from the unpredictability of the 2020-2021 school year and move into 
another irregular school year, accomplishing these goals became even more important. 
 
The objectives (in bold) and the strategies employed to accomplish our larger goals included: 
1. Challenging all participants to read at least 20 minutes every day 
• 
Provide milestone incentives at 500, 750, and 1,000 points and weekly drawing prizes 
• 
Encouraging teens and adults to model reading to the children in their lives 
2. Building a home library  
• 
Provide a free book or option to donate book to a Head Start classroom to all 
participants who reach 1,000 points during the program. 
3. Communicate literacy messages in simple easy to understand ways 
• 
Include early literacy tips and information to parents within the software 
4. Emphasize the fun of reading 
• 
Links to online read-aloud stories for children who may not have access to books 
• 
Streaming virtual events provided by diverse performers to build background 
knowledge and comprehension skills 
5. Reconnect participants with community experiences through prizes, virtual programming 
and challenges.  
• 
Create community connections through program prizes and programs 
• 
Community experiences build background knowledge and comprehension skills.  
• 
Provide short engaging videos on the participant dashboard featuring a partner 
organization; Liberty Wildlife featured a different animal in their care each week.

5 
 
Using the Great Reading Adventure software or optional paper game board, participants work 
towards a total reading goal of 1,000 minutes in 9 weeks by building a habit of reading twenty minutes 
a day. Participants achieve incentives at point milestones along the way including a free food coupon at 
500 points, an Arizona State Park Pass at 750 points, and a free book at 1,000 points. Additionally, the 
program promotes lifelong learning to our teen and adult participants. We encourage their 
participation by asking them to model positive reading behaviors to the children or non-readers in their 
lives as they work towards their own reading goal. Each milestone incentive serves as a motivator for 
all ages to reach their reading goal and ultimately helps build home libraries, an important aspect of 
increasing children’s literacy success, whether they chose a book for themselves or donate it to a Head 
start classroom. 
Consistent and robust staff training is important to meeting our goals and the program’s overall 
success. MCLD provided interactive training modules and toolkits with goals, talking points, and 
functionality of the online program to all participating library systems and the Durango Juvenile 
Detention center. We created and distributed three online trainings: one for administrators, one for 
customer service staff and a general program overview.  
 
Overall Statistics 
 
The Summer Reading Program encourages readers of all ages to participate and is broken out into 
four age groups: Pre-readers (Birth to 4), Kids (5 to 11), Teens (12 to 17) and adults (18+). 53,330 
participants registered online from May 1st to August 1st when the program closed. Of those, 24,534 
became achievers earning at least 1,000 points, an achiever rate of 46%.   
• 
49,269,632 minutes read 
• 
785, 834 digital badges earned 
• 
21,927 challenges completed 
• 
18,588 free books awarded and redeemed by achievers 
• 
1,247 free books donated to local Head Start classrooms 
• 
1,243 Reading Logs completed in the Maricopa County Jails

6 
 
The following graph illustrates Summer Reading participation and achievement over the past 4 
years. 2018 & 2019 show our program statistics in normal years, 2020 shows the impact of the 
pandemic and 2021 shows our road to recovery when the numbers increased and maintained a high 
achiever rate. 
 
 
2021 Participants and Achievers by Library System 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
81,936
82,982
33,298
53,330
32,924
36,119
18,762
24,534
40%
44%
56%
46%
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
2018
2019
2020
2021
Library System Participation & Achievers
Participants
Achievers
Achiever Rate
Library System 
Total Participants 
Total Achievers 
Rate of Achievement 
Avondale 
712 
245 
34% 
Buckeye 
2,466 
759 
31% 
Chandler 
7,320 
3924 
54% 
Desert Foothills 
234 
67 
21% 
Fort McDowell 
34 
5 
14% 
Glendale 
1,924 
958 
50% 
Luke Air Force Base 
121 
99 
82% 
MCLD 
14,486 
7,026 
48% 
Mesa 
5,457 
2,510 
32% 
Peoria 
2,551 
965 
38% 
Phoenix 
11,739 
 
4,865 
41% 
Salt River Tribal Library 
87 
9 
10% 
Scottsdale 
3,927 
1,981 
50% 
Tempe 
2,001 
1,000 
50% 
Tolleson 
143 
76 
53% 
Wickenburg 
72 
21 
29% 
Youngtown 
56 
24 
43% 
TOTAL 
53,330 
24,534 
46% 
Figure 2: 2021 Participant and Achievers by Library System 
Figure 1: System Wide Participants and Achievers 2018-2021

7 
 
Breaking our statistics down by age group, we can see which groups reach 1000 points at the 
highest rates, this year our adults had the highest achiever rate at 55% followed by our teens at 51%. 
Independent readers reach the 1,000 goal at a higher rate illustrating a need to find creative ways to 
encourage consistent tracking for the 5-11 age group. 
Participants and Achievers by Program & Library System 
 
. 
 
 
Figure 3:  2021 Participants and Achievers by Age and Library System 
Library System 
Prereaders 
Kids 
Teens 
Adults 
Signups 
Achievers 
Signups 
Achievers 
Signups 
Achievers 
Signups 
Achievers 
Avondale Public Library 
133 
38 
288 
78 
93 
39 
198 
90 
Buckeye Public Library 
390 
125 
1203 
327 
290 
101 
583 
206 
Chandler Public Library 
817 
445 
3446 
1654 
988 
569 
2069 
1256 
Desert Foothills Library 
37 
14 
137 
27 
19 
8 
41 
18 
Fort McDowell Yavapai 
Tribal Library 
8 
0 
17 
1 
3 
1 
6 
3 
Glendale Public Library 
257 
122 
872     872 
358 
252 
142 
543      543 
336 
Luke Air Force 
Base 
14 
10 
45 
34 
8 
7 
54 
48 
Maricopa County Library 
District 
1712 
798 
6860 
2746 
2053 
1126 
3861 
2356 
Mesa Public Library 
852 
360 
2285 
918 
699 
376 
1621 
856 
Peoria Public Library 
284 
98 
1332 
385 
372 
177 
563 
305 
Phoenix Public Library 
1614 
633 
5069 
1781 
1354 
628 
3702 
1823 
Salt River Tribal Library 
7 
0 
40 
3 
19 
1 
21 
5 
Scottsdale Public Library 
556 
278 
1744 
774 
498 
271 
1129 
658 
Tempe Public Library 
211 
82 
1128 
580 
165 
91 
497 
247 
Tolleson Public Library 
16 
6 
90 
48 
10 
6 
27 
16 
Wickenburg Public 
Library 
9 
1 
50 
13 
7 
2 
6 
5 
Youngtown Public 
Library 
7 
0 
16 
1 
5 
1 
28 
22 
TOTALS 
6924 
3010 
24,622 
9728 
6835 
3546 
14,949 
8250

8 
 
Marketing 
 
Prior to the launch of this year’s program, many participating library systems identified a need 
for additional social media graphics and overall marketing support. Because of this, the MCLD 
Communications Team focused on providing more promotional materials and opportunities to 
participating systems.   
MCLD significantly increased the amount of social media graphics provided to partner systems 
this year. The branded graphics helped to highlight various elements of the program, including prizes 
and challenges. The MCLD Team also created a variety of Open Graph images that would change 
throughout the summer. This automatically provided a fresh Summer Reading graphic on social media 
platforms, easily accessible to participating systems just by typing MaricopaCountyReads.org into a post.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 4: Social media graphics 
In order to provide participating systems with additional marketing support, MCLD also launched a 
new opportunity called the Summer Reading Advertising Pool. This optional support allowed systems to 
buy into in a large-scale advertising campaign that was managed by the MCLD Communications Team. 
This gave systems access to a dedicated marketing staff who researched, implemented, and analyzed 
digital and social campaigns on their behalf. There were varying levels of investment for participation, 
and three library systems participated in 2021:  Buckeye, Mesa and Tempe Public Libraries. 
Separate from the Advertising Pool, MCLD also launched an independent advertising campaign 
featuring a mix of digital, print and radio advertising. The results of the campaign were successful with 
highlights being:   
• 
The digital elements of the campaign brought 20,000 people to MaricopaCountyReads.org, with 
82% being new visitors to the site  
• 
Nearly 1,000 Secret Codes were redeemed from advertisements, including 555 from codes 
placed in print newspaper advertisements

9 
 
• 
PeachJar flyers were sent to 106 schools in 7 school districts, resulting in nearly 1,600 visits to 
MaricopaCountyReads.org   
 
Software  
 
The summer reading software has continued to evolve and improve to address the changing needs 
of Maricopa County Reads. Many of the improvements for the 2021 reading program happened in 
offstage areas that staff use to manage the program. 
• 
Administration and management improvements span many areas: systems and branches, 
schools and districts, daily images, social cards, vendor codes, packing slips, streaming programs, 
and roles. 
• 
We improved functionality and accessibility for the public side of the site to improve 
interactions with JavaScript, continue to keep the site as functional as possible for users without 
JavaScript, and improve accessibility to keep the application usable by as many people as 
possible. 
The latest revision of the summer reading software along with documentation and access to the 
development team are available at the Great Reading Adventure project page.

10 
 
Game Content 
 
The dashboard is the first thing our participants see when they log into our program. This is 
where their digital badges, personalized avatars and, for our youngest participants, early literacy tips 
live. Bilingual early literacy tips from Expect More Arizona and Smart Talk graphics from Read On 
Arizona populate on the game dashboard each day for anyone registered as a prereader (ages 0-4). 
To engage participants as soon as they log in to their account we continued our inclusion of web links 
to online literacy games, activities and storytelling. This year a new partner, Liberty Wildlife, provided 
short informational videos for the dashboard. Each week a new video was uploaded and featured an 
animal in their care; participants could enter the name of the animal as a secret code to earn a digital 
badge with the animal’s picture on it.  
Digital badges continued to be an integral part of the 2021 to mark program achievements 
(program registration, 500-point achievement, etc.) and to indicate the completion of in-game 
challenges many of which promote our community partners and community experiences. Badges 
provide added motivation and incentive for participants to continue logging reading points 
throughout the 9 weeks of the Summer Reading Program. 
Avatars allow for personalized engagement in the online program. Avatar accessory bundles, 
such as animals (tails, ears, paws) and swimwear were unlocked throughout the program creating 3.6 
septillion possible avatar combinations keeping participants engaged with new choices all summer. We 
strive for inclusivity in every aspect of our program so this year included the addition of 11 new 
hairstyles. The goal is that participants can see themselves reflected in their avatar.   
 
Figure 5: New avatar hairstyles in 2021

11 
 
Challenges 
 
Challenges are a way for participants to earn bonus points by completing themed reading lists or 
a mix of reading books and completing activities. This year library staff and partners, such as the Board 
of Supervisors and Maricopa County’s Environmental Services created 211 diverse engagement activities 
with a total of 21,927 participant completions. 
Challenges 
Created by 
Description 
Participants  
#FirstChapterFridays 
MCLD’s 
Goodyear 
Looking for your next read?  We're 
reading the first chapters of our favorite 
books EVERY Friday  
1,070 
Read about animals 
Scottsdale Civic 
Center 
Our theme this year is Tails and Tales so 
let's read about animals! 
823 
#BookLover Classics 
Edition 
 
MCLD’s Fountain 
Hills 
Read or listen to 2 of the popular classic 
titles from this collection of top authors 
and books! 
644 
Animals of Arizona!   
/Animales de Arizona! 
 
MCLD’s Fountain 
Hills 
Discover some of the amazing creatures 
that call Arizona home! 
632 
Dinosaur Challenge 
 
Tempe 
Complete 3 of these dino-themed tasks! 
577 
Arizona Pets 
 
Mesa- Red 
Mountain 
Complete 3 pet themed tasks to earn 
bonus points 
523 
Maricopa County Parks 
and Recreation Kids' 
Challenge 
 
Maricopa 
County Parks 
and Rec 
Complete Maricopa County Parks and 
Recreation Department’s Summer 
Reading Challenge. 
518 
Chalk Your Walk 
 
MCLD’s 
Administration 
Get outside and create chalk art in your 
driveway or sidewalk! 
499 
Comical Creatures 
 
MCLD’s Sun City  
Do you like funny books? You'll be all set 
with this list of funny graphic novels with 
animals in them 
493 
Harkins Summer Movie 
Fun Challenge 
 
Harkins Theatres 
Escape the heat with these fun summer 
movies at Harkins!  Find a sneak peak of 
the movies in your challenge tasks 
432 
Figure 6: Top 10 Challenges

12 
 
Community Experiences 
 
A community experience is a special summer reading event that takes place outside the library 
at an external space or organization. Community Experiences build community and provide participants 
with the experiential knowledge, a key component of literacy. Staff from all participating libraries 
collaborated with community partners to create secret codes that participants found and redeemed for 
a digital badge and bonus points. With most organizations reopening their doors to customers this 
summer, staff reestablished community relationships and created 109 community experiences, visited 
5,343 times for the 2021 Summer Reading Program.  
Experience 
Location 
Description 
Participants 
1970’s Heart 
Goodyear 
There are 10 hearts located in Goodyear painted by 
Valley artists, and each heart represents a decade of 
the city’s history and its future. 
612 
Friends of Gilbert 
Libraries Book 
Store 
Gilbert 
Visit the Southeast Regional Library and check out the 
Friends of the Gilbert Libraries Book Store. The non-
profit bookstore is located in the lobby of the building 
and sells used books, videos, puzzles and more. All 
proceeds benefit the Gilbert libraries and other 
community literacy efforts. 
255 
Phoenix Zoo 
Phoenix 
Visit the Phoenix Zoo and cross the turtle bridge! 
214 
Taste of Italy 
Goodyear 
Visit Taste of Italy and find their secret code.  
193 
Irish Cultural 
Center 
Phoenix 
Escape the heat this summer by visiting the Irish 
Cultural Center & McClelland Library. During their 
visit guests will learn about the famous Book of Kells 
in the library, take a turn around our beautiful Clos, 
step back in time at our Irish cottage, and learn all 
about Irish Culture and History 
193 
Horseshoe Park 
and Equestrian 
Center 
Queen 
Creek 
Did you know there is a Community Arena that is 
available for public use at Horseshoe Park & 
Equestrian Centre? Learn more by visiting the 
Community Arena page. 
172 
Perry Pool 
Gilbert 
Visit the Town of Gilbert Perry pool. 
126 
Greenfield Pool 
Gilbert 
Visit the Town of Gilbert Greenfield Pool. 
125 
Elevate 
Trampoline Park 
Goodyear 
Find the secret code hidden inside Goodyear's 
Elevate Trampoline Park.  
112 
Southeast 
Regional Library 
Rotating Art 
Exhibit 
Gilbert 
Visit the Southeast Regional Library and check out the 
rotating art exhibit showcasing artists, promoting 
awareness and fostering education regarding art in 
the surrounding community.  
110 
Figure 7: Top 10 Community Experiences

13 
 
Figure 8: Most viewed streaming events 
Events 
 
With the success of the virtual streaming events available in the Summer Reading Software last 
year and the uncertainty of the ongoing pandemic, MCLD decided to repeat a virtual only format this 
summer for all performers. Each week 4 new programs, 3 English and 1 Spanish or bilingual, became 
available to all summer reading participants. We also worked with an American Sign Language (ASL) 
interpreter who provided ASL interpretations for programming provided by Liberty Wildlife, a nonprofit 
rescue, rehabilitation, and education center and Phoenix Herpetological Society, the largest reptile 
sanctuary in the US; each ran for one month. These 34 programs received 12,325 views over the nine 
weeks of the program and included secret codes to earn point and digital badges for watching.  
2021 Most Viewed Programs 
Liberty Wildlife with ASL interpretation 
Great Arizona Puppet Theater 
Phoenix Art Museum: Art Speaks!  
As You Wish Painting 
Blues Music History 
Jungle Jill’s Animal Encounters 
Juggling with James Reid  
Marshall Shore’s AZ Trivia 
Desert Botanical Garden: Desert Defenders 
Radical Reptile Fun 
Top Spanish/bilingual program: Ballet Folklórico Quetzalli

14 
 
Figure 10: Logos for drawing prize organizations 
Figure 9: Summer Reading Sponsor logos 
Sponsors and Incentives 
 
 
Outside organizations support the reading program by donating incentives participants earn as 
they reach point milestones or win in drawings. Peter Piper Pizza, Raising Cane’s and Rubio’s Coastal 
Grill donated free food coupons for 500 point achievers. Coordinated through the Arizona State Library, 
Arizona State Parks & Trails donated one-day park passes for 750-point achievers while the Phoenix 
Mercury provided up to four (4) free tickets to one game June-September. Grand prize drawings 
conducted at the end of the program for all 1,000-point achievers included: 
o Harkins Theatres prize packs, which include loyalty cups, admission passes and 
free popcorn – one for a winner at each participating library. In addition to the 
prize packs they donated an additional 6,000 loyalty cups, libraries determined 
how these would be distributed. 
o Legoland Discover Center admission passes 
o Sea Life Aquarium admission passes 
 
 
 
 
 
MCLD provided kids Phoenix Zoo bundle drawing prizes, with a variety of animal themed books 
and educational toys, for each library system to create drawings as they saw fit. MCLD participants who 
logged at least 140 points a week were entered into weekly prize drawings. Pre-readers and kids could 
win a Phoenix Zoo bundle. Teens could choose from curated themed bundles from Samurai Comics such 
as Marvel, Magic the Gathering or Star Wars. Adults could choose a curated themed bundle such as 
Arizona Love or the Book Lover from Changing Hands bookstore.2  
 
 
 
                                                                                                    
                                                          
2 Each library system offer drawing prizes and additional incentives for their participants only

15 
 
Figure 11: Top ordered prize books 
Free Book Incentive 
 
One of our objectives every year is to build home libraries so the Summer Reading Program 
offers participants who achieve 1,000 points their choice of book from over 120 titles. These choices 
include options for all ages ranging from board books to teen and adult fiction and nonfiction and 
several activity books. Over 18,500 participants, or 80% of achievers, chose a title from this year’s 
selection. We continued our partnership with Maricopa County Human Services Department so 
achievers could donate their book to a child enrolled in a Head Start classroom instead; 5% of achievers 
donated totaling 1247 books, enough for every child enrolled to take a book home.  
 
Maricopa County also supported the Durango Juvenile Detention Center’s program by 
purchasing a bulk order of titles for kids 10 and up. These books went directly to the facility so that kids 
who reached 1,000 points could choose a book right away; 67 kids completed the program and chose a 
free book. 
 
2021 Top Ordered Prize Book Titles 
Fix it and Forget It- cookbook 
Weird but True 
Scholastic Book of World Records 
Draw Kawaii Cute Mythical Creatures 
One Colorful World Color and Activity Book 
The Winglets Quartet 
 Pete the Cat and the Treasure Map 
Pokémon Awesome Evolutions 
Disney Frozen 2 Magical Sticker Book 
Snuggle Up, Pups –board book 
Top Spanish Title- We Love You, Mr. Panda/  
Te amamos, Sr. Panda-board book

16 
 
Public Surveys 
 
Each year we invite participants to complete a survey about their experience with the Summer 
Reading Program to help us identify the strengths and weaknesses of the program and if met our goals 
and objectives. This year 2,707 participants filled out our survey upon their completion of the program. 
This breaks down to 618 kids, 439 teens, 1,026 adults and 624 adults answering on behalf of their child 
or teen. Many of the questions remained the same; we kept the questions posed by the Arizona State 
Library including how the library continues to support families during the COVID-19 pandemic, feedback 
on virtual programming and added one about prize pick up since it has changed since 2019.  
Survey results include the following: 
• 
87% of respondents learned something new from what they read or experienced. 
• 
84% of respondents enjoy reading more (a 5% jump from last year). 
• 
84% of respondents read more often. 
• 
82% of respondents want to use the library resources more often. 
• 
83% of respondents maintained or increased their reading. 
• 
95% of respondents felt prize pick up was simple. 
• 
93% of respondents have a library card. 
• 
99% of respondents plan to participate next year. 
 
The optional free response results were helpful and will inform next year’s goals and objectives as 
well as help adjust the functionality of the program. Even though customers are anxious to get back to 
in-person programming, most also expressed thanks for meeting their needs in other ways. Our curbside 
pick-up, though not exclusively a summer reading feature, was a way we connected to customers last 
year and continues to be a vital service in reaching summer reading participants. Parents and caregivers 
shared that the Summer Reading Program created a way for them to connect to their children, forming 
a bond and creating a reading routine in their home with the shared goal of reading 20 minutes a day.

17 
 
Summary 
 
The 2021 Summer Reading Program was another year of uncertainty as we made early decisions 
about programming, prize distribution, and reestablished relationships with our community partners. 
With our doors open an additional 20,000 participants registered for our program and our achiever rate, 
a focus in capturing statistics, was 46% showing continued engagement. We will look to maintain the 
rate of achievement while gaining more participants overall in 2022 by implementing some new 
objectives and strategies to interrupt the summer slide even after participants reach their 1,000 point 
milestone.  
 
The majority of programming created by staff and community organizations were still virtual  
this year and though customers are eager to get back to in person programming participants engaged 
online viewing our programs, completing challenges and entering secret codes.  When we return to in 
person programming we will continue to offer online programs and performances which address 
accessibility issues by providing closed captioning, Spanish/bilingual options and American Sign 
Language options.  
Plans for the 2022 Summer Reading Program include tweaks to the user interface and better 
communication with participants to improve the user experience, additional training options for the 
different types of learners on staff and continued efforts to increase diversity of content in every aspect 
of the online format and software. We strive to get back to our pre pandemic participant numbers and 
achiever rate by reaching not only our regular library users but also non-readers or non-library users 
who we hope will form a library habit after participating in the summer reading program.

18 
 
Acknowledgments 
 
The Summer Reading Program is made possible through the collaborative efforts of 
Maricopa County Library District staff, participating libraries, and community partners. We 
would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for making the 2021 program a 
success. 
 
Maricopa County Library District 
 
Director 
Jeremy Reeder 
 
Deputy Director 
Erin MacFarlane 
 
Branch Operations 
Danette Barton  
Library Region Managers 
 
Collection Management 
Laura Jamison 
Amy Cimino 
Tracey Hoyos  
Tara Summus 
Michael Porter 
 
Facilities 
Brigitte Demmel 
Justin Franks 
 
Finance 
John Werbach  
Mary Carson 
Bob Mungovan  
Emily LaFragola 
 
Information Technology Team 
 
Library District Branch Staff 
 
 
 
 
 
Marketing and Public Relations 
Samantha Mears  
Lucas Gonzalez  
Rob Scott 
 
Services Team 
Lindsey Powers 
Jolene Bradley 
Jacqueline Jeffrey 
Jennifer Brown 
 
Virtual Branch 
Lena Sherman 
Marissa Beckett 
Corban Ford 
Yvonne Trotta 
 
Web Team  
Matt Miller 
Harald Nagel 
Daniel Wilcox 
Madi Boman

19 
 
Participating Libraries 
 
Avondale Public Library 
Marisela Munoz  
Brenda Soto 
 
Buckeye Public Library 
Peter Grant 
Janene Van Leeuwen 
Jana White 
 
Chandler Public Library 
Jill Baker  
Jean Reynolds 
Jennifer Whitt 
 
Desert Foothills 
Caitlin Decker 
Ashley Ware 
 
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Tribal Library 
Jacquelyn McCalvin 
 
Glendale Public Library 
Erin Garred 
Elizabeth Garcia 
 
Luke Air Force Base 
Jennifer Crowell 
Kathryn Puckett 
 
Maricopa County Durango Juvenile Detention 
Center 
Cipriana Rosales 
Linda Christian 
Kevin Malakowsky 
 
Maricopa County Sherriff’s Department 
Lisa Poulin 
 
Mesa Public Library 
Brenna Klassen 
Michele Sheppard 
Anna Chenoweth 
 
 
 
 
 
Peoria Public Library 
Kathie Jackson 
Sarah Dudley 
 
Phoenix Public Library 
Gretchen Pierce  
Wendy Resnik 
 
Salt River Tribal Library 
Melissa Rave Karria 
Silver Latiesha Guy 
Sophenia Begaye 
 
Scottsdale Public Library 
Heather Sollom-Smith  
Michelle Vorves-Cabrales 
Alisha Hasson 
 
Tempe Public Library 
Samantha Seeman 
 
Tolleson Public Library 
Lila Garza 
 
Youngtown Public Library 
Heidi Speed 
Tris Steward  
Cathy Grow 
 
Wickenburg Public Library 
Jane Baumbach 
Suzie Wolfe

20 
 
Maricopa County Partners 
 
Maricopa County Supervisors 
Jack Sellers, District 1  
Steve Chucri, District 2  
Bill Gates, District 3 
Clint Hickman, District 4  
Steve Gallardo, Chairman, District 5 
 
Maricopa County Human Services 
Department 
Nancy Kessay 
 
Maricopa County Parks and Recreation 
Donna Southard 
 
Maricopa County Departments 
Sheriff Paul Penzone Office of 
Communications 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Partner Organizations 
 
Arizona State Library 
Donna Throckmorton 
 
Arizona State Parks & Trails 
Ken “Gecko” Sliwa 
 
Harkins Theatres 
Alison Sipes 
 
Legoland Discovery Center/Sea Life Aquarium 
Rebecca Crain 
 
Peter Piper Pizza 
Lee Rosenthal 
 
Phoenix Mercury 
Vince Kozar 
Holly Mercier 
 
Raising Cane’s 
Danielle Mann  
Brittany Maroney 
 
Rubio’s Coastal Grill 
Lauren Sassano 
 
Expect More AZ 
 
Read On Arizona 
Terri Clark