View this email in your browser.

Wishing all of ULC's members a happy Juneteenth holiday! The ULC office is closed for the U.S. federal holiday, but all staff will be back online tomorrow, Thursday, June 20.

The 2024 Innovations Initiative application cycle from the Urban Libraries Council is NOW OPEN! Submit your entries now to share your library’s out-of-the-box thinking and successful programs that have revolutionized the library field. We can’t wait to see your submissions. 

The deadline for submissions is Monday, August 9, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Entries should feature library programs, initiatives and transformative ideas that launched between January 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024, or achieved significant breakthroughs during that time. All active ULC member libraries can participate in the 2024 Innovations Initiative. 

A panel of judges will award one Top Innovator and one Honorable Mention for each of the 6 recognition categories. Winners will be contacted by ULC the week of September 9th. ULC will announce the Top Innovator and Honorable Mention award winners to the rest of the membership during a virtual event in the fall. If your Innovation is not selected as an honoree, you will not be contacted.

The Top Innovators in each category will receive one complimentary registration to the 2024 ULC Annual Leadership Forum, taking place in Philadelphia, PA, from October 23 to 25.

ULC Annual Business Meeting (Virtual)

Tomorrow! June 20, 2024 | 4:00 p.m. ET 

Join ULC tomorrow, June 20, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. for our virtual Annual Business Meeting. During this meeting, members will hear a mid-year report from ULC President and CEO Brooks Rainwater on the current state of the organization, highlights of successful programs from ULC members and details on upcoming events like the 2024 ULC Annual Leadership Forum.

Members will also vote on the proposed board slate, which outlines the Board Officers standing for election 2024-2025 and Board Members standing for election for the 2024-2026 term. View the full Board slate here to prepare for the vote.

Attendance of this meeting is highly encouraged! Please register below to attend.

Boost Summer Learning with Science of Reading Best Practices 

Written by ULC Senior Advisor in Educational Equity Liz McChesney 

While summer learning programs are getting underway, it’s not too late to incorporate the Science of Reading into what your library has planned. We know that summer learning programs in public libraries can be a vital resource for maintaining and improving early literacy skills, as well as help close achievement gaps brought about by systemic barriers in education. As Harvard researchers noted in 2013, summer reading interventions can especially have a positive impact on the reading comprehension ability of low-income children. 

Here are five strategies taken from ULC’s upcoming Science of Reading Toolkit to easily integrate the science of reading into your ongoing summer programming.

1. Support parents and caregivers by sharing books that promote letter-sound recognition and letter patterns.  
2. Provide programs to foster phonemic awareness in new readers.  
3. Enrich your collection with phonics-based board games and word games. 
4. Establish a reading buddy program.  
5. Invest in culturally affirming, diverse books. 

Get more details about each strategy and learn more about what libraries are doing on the ULC blog. Be sure to RSVP for the ULC member webinar on this topic, taking place on Thursday, July 11 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. 

Unlocking Literacy: Five Action Steps for Implementing the Science of Reading into Summer Programs at Your Library

Thursday, July 11, 2024 | 2:00 p.m. ET

Join ULC for an insightful and practical webinar designed specifically for public librarians and library staff, focused on enhancing your summer learning programs through the integration of elements of the Science of Reading. The webinar will provide you with evidence-based strategies and tools to take the first step in fostering literacy development among young readers and summer learning participants.

The 2024 Library Insights Survey (LIS) is now open, and all ULC members are encouraged to participate. The data you provided last year demonstrated how libraries are strengthening operations and purposefully serving communities since the pandemic.  

This year’s survey looks to collect information for the 2023 calendar year and budgetary details for the 2023 fiscal year. The LIS covers four categories: Attraction and Attendance, Location Experience and Use of Space, Programs and Service, and Staffing and Budget. 

Survey data will be compiled and featured in the ULC Library Data Hive, an exclusive collection of interactive dashboards, charts and maps just for ULC members. We anticipate a Fall 2024 release and will also use aggregate data from the survey to inform a public report of our findings. Visit the LIS page on the ULC website to review questions in each category and to submit your response by July 3.  

Questions? Want to Submit a Story?

Contact ULC's Communications Manager Elise Calanni at ecalanni@urbanlibraries.org.