Summer Reading Research

Read more about planning a summer reading program and/or studies on the impact of summer reading programs:

• Celano, Donna and Susan B. Neuman.  The Role of Public Libraries in Children’s Literacy Development: An Evaluation Report.  Mechanicsburg, Pa.:  Pennsylvania Library Association, 2001.
• Cole, Natalie, Virginia Walter, & Eva Mitnick.  Outcomes + Outreach The California Summer Reading Outcomes Initiative.  Public Libraries Magazine, Vol. 52: 2, March/April 2013.
• Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., & Greathouse, S. (1996).  "The effects of summer vacation on Achievement Test Scores:  A Narrative and Meta-analytic Review."  Review of Educational Research, 66(3), 227-227.
• Fiore, Carole D.  Fiore’s Summer Library Reading Program Handbook.  New York:  Neal-Schumann, 2005.
• Kan, Katharine L.  Sizzling Summer Reading Programs for Young Adults, Second Edition.  Chicago:  American Library Association, 2006.
• Cooc N, Kim JS. Peer influence on children’s reading skills: A social network analysis of elementary school classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology [Internet]. 2017;109 (5) :727-740.
• Krashen, Stephen and Fay Shin.  “Summer Reading and the Potential Contribution of the Public Library in Improving Reading for Children of Poverty,” Public Library Quarterly, Vol. 23:  3/4, 2004.
• Johnson, Wayne L. and Yvette C. Johnson.  Summer Reading Program Fun: Ten Thrilling, Inspiring, Wacky Board Games for Kids.  Chicago:  American Library Association, 1999.
• McGill-Franzen, Anne and Richard Allington.  “Bridging the Summer Reading Gap.”  Instructor, Vol. 112: 8, May/June 2003.
• Mraz, M., & Rasinski, T. V. (2007). Summer Reading Loss.  The Reading Teacher, 60(8), 784-789.
• Roman, Susan, Deborah T. Carran, and Carole D. Fiore.  The Dominican Study:  Public Library Summer Reading Programs Close the Reading Gap.  River Forest, Ill.:  Dominican University, 2010.
• Stuart, E. A., & Rubin, D. B. (2007).  "Best Practices in Quasi-Experimental Designs:  Matching Methods for Causal Inference."  In J. Osborne (Ed.), Best Practices in Quantitative Social Science (Vol. 11, pp. 155-176). Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.
• Virginia Summer Reading Program Impact Study.  The study began in 2013, and the final report in four parts is expected to be released in December 2015. 
  • Impact of Summer Reading Programs in Virginia (Infographic)

Report One examines how many books participants read and if they are reading at their age level.  The report also provides information from a survey directed at the public libraries

Report Two describes site visits to five Virginia public libraries. Interviews were conducted with parents and library staff to document best practices for the summer reading program. 

Report Three examines the results of merging the data with the Virginia Department of Education reading tests. 

Report Four is an examination of reading scores of children and teens who participated in the summer reading program for more than one year