This ALA 2009 session started with Carole D. Fiore, the moderator, showing the efficacy of Summer Reading programs. Most telling was slide #8: SRPs play a vital role in communities, providing literacy achievement while school is not in session. It is not surprising, then, that 95.2% of public libraries have some form of Summer Reading. You can find the slides, handout, and follow-up Q&A at the ALA Presentations page. All of the panelists touched on some common themes: Tracking – Electronic data is easier to manage and parse for usage statistics. Even if registration or logging isn’t in the cards, a small database or even spreadsheet is a big help for keeping staff administrative tasks organized. Well-structured data is a great way to glean statistics for LSTA justifications and the like Apprehension– whether it be staff with doubts about difficulty and usefulness, or a perception that patrons would not buy…