Make Your Summer @ Your Library

Make Your Summer @ Your Library

This program is a companion to the Collaborative Summer Reading Program’s Beneath the Surface teen program. The aim of Make Your Summer is to broaden OCPL’s Summer Reading program offerings to allow for the participation of teens with varying creative interests, to promote an array of library services, to meet the needs of 21^stc learners, to support and enhance digital literacy, and involve our community in content creation.

Inspired by Maker Spaces and gamification concepts, Make Your Summer programs can be low or hi tech, where libraries provide materials and space for spontaneous creativity or planned engagement. Instead of traditional prizes, teens earn a digital badge for their achievement. Digital badges are virtual icons awarded for the acquisition of skill or knowledge and are a popular online form assessment and display of proficiency (often used as part of an web-based resume and widely accepted by contemporary technology companies and colleges).

OCPL teens register on Evanced at their home library and log into the Make Your Summer Google Site to select activities of interest to them. When they complete the activity, teens earn virtual badges that they may then display on web-based applications or social media sites (FB, Twitter, etc.) and record on Evanced.