Summer Library Program

The State Library believes in the importance of a Summer Library Program and provides access to a comprehensive Summer Library program for public libraries statewide.

As a member of the national iREAD program, each year the State Library provides a summer library program for public libraries. Each library receives free resource guides for the current theme, invitations to free summer workshops, and a chance to order supplementary materials.

The 2023 Summer Library Program slogan for all ages is Find Your Voice.

Learn More About iREAD

iREAD was developed by the Illinois Library Association (ILA) and the program is adopted in other states including Minnesota, California, Alaska, Iowa, and Oregon, and worldwide by the Department of Defense for libraries on military bases. Morever, iREAD is implemented in thousands of individual libraries across the country.

By combining resources and working with a commercial vendor to produce high quality materials, public libraries in participating states or systems can purchase themed posters, reading logs, bookmarks, certificates and a variety of reading incentives at significant savings.

iREAD is run by ILA, a nonprofit entity; revenues are used to support libraries. There are NO membership fees, contracts, or commitments necessary. iREAD is flexible; you can use the art in perpetuity after purchase. They provide themed templates for any commonly used registration software package such as Beanstack, Evanced, and others. They have been creating inclusive, high-quality summer programming material since 1982.

Subscribe to the iREAD Newsletter

The Summer Library Program is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of Iowa.

2023 Summer Reading Canva Templates

Canva is a free web-based graphic design tool. We've created templates with the theme graphics provided by iREAD. To use the templates, you must first create a free account at www.canva.com. Canva is easy to learn, but if you want to familiarize yourself with the basics or improve your skills, check out Canva Design School. The Getting Started with Canva tutorial is a good “Canva 101” resource.

Clicking on the template links below will create a copy of each design in your account. All of the text on the templates can be edited to suit your library's needs, and your library's information and logo can also be added to the designs. To print, download the files as Print PDFs. If you decide to have them professionally printed, printers should be able to use the files in that format. You can also print them in-house from Print PDFs.