Past Summers With the Library

Do you remember your favorite library summer reading programs when you were growing up? The Los Angeles Public Library has a rich history of summertime fun. Since we’re celebrating Central Library’s centennial year, let’s take a look back at some of the library’s summer reading campaigns over the last century.

For several summers in the late 1920s - early 1930s, the Los Angeles Public Library invited children to virtually travel the world and learn about other cultures by reading books set in other countries. Children were given a “passport” with their name on it that was kept at the library. The passports also had a spot for your photo, a space to list the countries you visited, as well as the “route” you took to get there. To complete the challenge, kids had to read ten books total (which they were free to choose), each about a different country. This equated to “visiting” ten different countries to stamp your passport.

At the Central Library, Polly Ivanhoe (a doll that served as the mascot of the Ivanhoe-themed children’s room) changed costumes every week during the summer to reflect the country she was visiting on her "World Tour Through Books." [Unfortunately, no one has seen Polly Ivanhoe in years, and I’ve yet to find a photo of her.] Some children followed Polly’s route to different countries, while other kids toured through the United States, “visiting” different states. As long as you read about different parts of the world you would complete the challenge. Ideally, these books made you curious about the locales you read about, which led you to check out books about travel, or learn about life in these countries. Hopefully, curiosity led children to keep reading all year through, long after the passport challenge had ended. Wanna take a guess at your prize for completing the challenge? You got to bring home your completed passport!

All of the summer reading artwork that follows is believed to be the work of artist Anton H. Schedl. “Tony” Schedl began working for the Los Angeles Public Library in 1951 after working for Walt Disney and Paramount Studios. He created many posters, flyers, exhibits, paper sculptures, and more over the years and deserves a full-fledged exhibit of his own.

In 1960, the Los Angeles Public Library launched the "Book Detectives" summer reading campaign, based on Eva Titus’ 1958 bestseller Basil of Baker Street, the first book of a five-book series. Basil and his sidekick, Dr. David Q. Dawson, are mice who live in the basement of 221B Baker Street, the same building as Sherlock Holmes, whom they emulate. Children who read one or two books (I haven’t figured out yet why it was "one or two books;" perhaps it had something to do with the number of pages read) could become book detectives and be given a special folder kept at the library. When the child read a book, they returned to the library to write down the book titles in their Book Detective folder. Kids were encouraged to hunt for new ideas and clues in the books they read. Librarians were on hand to help decipher clues and offer suggestions. At the end of the summer, kids got to take their Book Detectives folder home.

Mid-century summer reading followed the same pattern (read a book or two, get a folder, list reading, take home the folder at the end of the summer) for many years, but the theme changed each summer. In 1961, the theme of summer reading was based on H.A. and Margaret Rey’s inquisitive monkey. The Curious George folder illustrated a "curious" George inside, while the back of the folder left room for kids to write what they’d read for the summer. 

In 1964, the library partnered with Los Angeles’ soon-to-be-built zoo to encourage kids to read during the summer. Ground was broken in March 1964 for the new Greater Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park. The first phase of the zoo to be built was the Children’s Zoo, "a zoo within a zoo" that was “scaled for the enjoyment of youngsters,” which was slated to be done by the end of summer (then pushed to the end of the year and finally opened in March 1965). Children who participated in the summer reading challenge at the Los Angeles Public Library received a pass to preview the new zoo. 

The "Year of the Bookworm" made a big splash during the summer of 1973. The first day of the summer reading program was June 15, and 46 branches across the city took part in what was dubbed "Balloon Day." Children were given postcards to write their names on, and the postcards read, "Hi. Children are celebrating the year of the bookworm at the Los Angeles Public Library. Please join us by mailing this card [back] and telling us your name and where you found the card." The cards, which had space for the recipient to add their information, were attached to red, blue, or orange helium-filled balloons and launched into the air. The child who returned the card from the furthest distance received a special prize: a new Tonka truck and a copy of The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse. The winner’s balloon was found in Caborca, Sonora, Mexico! 

The Los Angeles Public Library’s summer reading challenge is still an annual event, and now it's open to all ages. [Pro-tip: If you read to your toddler for one hour, you BOTH get to log that as an hour of reading!] Check your local library every summer to find fun reads, cool prizes, and a paper gameboard you can take home at the beginning of summer– no need to write down what you’ve read.