To: Board of Supervisors
From: Alison McKee, County Librarian
Report Title: Small Giveaway Prizes for Contra Costa County Library Summer Reading Programs
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Purchasing Agent to execute, on behalf of the County Librarian, purchase orders for 5,000 books, 13,000 lapel pins, 6,000 stickers, 8,000 temporary tattoos, and 451 small drawing prizes for a total amount not to exceed $48,000 to be used as incentives for patron participation in the 2026 Summer Reading Program.
FISCAL IMPACT:
100% Library Fund.
BACKGROUND:
Every summer, the Library Department engages patrons and non-library users to participate in the Summer Reading Program. The Summer Reading Program is designed to combat “summer slide” in children and teens, which is the loss of learning over the summer if students don’t read or engage in learning activities during school breaks. For babies, it builds the early literacy skills necessary to enter school ready to learn to read and for adults, it provides them the opportunity to be good reading examples for the young people in their lives. Public libraries and Summer Reading are especially important to families in lower income communities because they don’t have access to the costly summer activities such as camps and classes and, therefore, their students experience the most learning loss during the summer. In 2025, more than 9,000 people completed the Summer Reading program.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Purchase Order is not approved, the Contra Costa County Library will not be able to give away incentives to those patrons who participate in the Summer Reading Program, potentially losing new patrons and losing the interest of existing patrons that anticipate Summer Reading.