Measuring the Dollar Value of Summer Reading at

Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library

September 2009

The following measurements are predicated on the research as outlined in Steve Brown’s article, “What is a summer worth?” published in the Summer 2005 edition of Texas Library Journal.

Highlights include:

• “Kids who participate in summer reading activities maintain their reading skills better than those who do not.”
• “Several studies during the last decade estimate that students lose three months in reading skills during the summer reading break and suggest that the loss is cumulative if not corrected.”
• “The research also shows that public library summer reading programs, encouraging voluntary reading, are among the effective tools at preventing this educational loss, more so than attendance at day camp, even more so than summer school programs.”

Applying the same math for Indiana as Brown did for his Texas public library, consider these figures:

• According to the IN Department of Education website Plainfield spends approximately $10,402 per pupil.
• Multiply that number ($10,402) by the number of months students spend relearning basic skills (3) and divide by the number of months in the school year (9).     $10,402 x 3/9 = $3,467
• Figuring that a third of that time is devoted to reviewing basic reading skills (the other skills being writing and mathematics) divide that number ($3,467) by three.              $3,467/3 = $1,155 per reader
• Multiply that number ($1,155) by the number of summer reading participants at the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library (1,323). $1,155 x 1,323 = $1,528,065.

$1,528,065 is the estimated educational dollar value retained instead of lost during the 2009 summer break within the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library service area.