Foolproofing

In my fantasies, I have tried to design an Absolutely Foolproof Summer Reading Sign Up Card. Futile, I know too well. One tries to make something as simple as possible to make it quick because there are times when many people are trying to sign up for summer reading all at once and it needs to move smoothly. Also, people are reluctant to have to write out too much information.

At the moment, the State Library just wants numbers - how many sign up and finish - but the software requires a username, password, first and last name. We like to keep track of which library signed them up and we try to put the names of the ones that finished in the newspaper, listing them by school. I personally am interested in how the summer reading program fares by grade levels.

Last year I was able to graph how the various schools did in signing up as well as completing the program. I already knew how they had finished out in years before. I had used that information to goad one school into doing better ... and they did! It is now interesting to see what schools have more children sign up, but they don't finish for whatever reason. Then you can try to puzzle out why that would be. 

I suppose I could just explain all of that to people and hand them a blank sheet of paper, but instead I set up a card for them to fill out with minimal effort and for me to transcribe to the program with the same minimal effort. Last year I put things in the wrong order on the card which confused me when time came for data entry.

So, how hard can this be? You'd be surprised how things can get confused.

Last year I let them circle the library and patrons circled their closest library. This year I did that work for them, by providing each branch with the branch name marked. They crossed it out and marked the branch they usually went to or was closest to them. This can be a nuisance because we do all the data entry at the main branch. If each branch did their own data entry (and I try not to overtax them because they are often there alone ... and I have trouble letting go of the responsibility), it wouldn't be an issue. I'm not sure why parents would drive to the main branch instead of their local one to sign up for summer reading. Perhaps they think they wouldn't be able to attend our programs if they didn't. Perhaps their kid has already read all the books at the branch.

They also seem to be unclear about what constitutes a "school." I know you tell your child that Sunshine Tot Sanctuary is their "school" - but it's not. It's a daycare. "School" starts at K-5 statewide. These are the kids that are at risk of losing skills during the summer. Some schools have K-4, so I added that in. But, for kids younger than that, they are Pre-School. Preschool has changed in definition since our state instituted universal kindergarten. I know there are divisions below that. There are infants, toddlers, as well as preschoolers. Instead of confusing that issue, I put them all under one heading. But it confused the issue anyway.

At the other end, well, our purview only goes as far as fifth grade. Anyone going to sixth grade can go to the programs and hang out in the Teen Center. However, some prefer to do our program and they put down 6th grade, which isn't a choice on my pulldown menu. I created an "other" category in the pulldown menu for those.

Now, after making a big deal out of how I want the grade the kid will be in in the fall, why would they put down the school they're currently in? Two of our branches are in a school district with a primary as well as an elementary school. So, if they try to tell me that the kid will be in third grade but is in the primary school - well, gah!

It makes me want to pull my hair out, even though I know the patron can't possibly know what's going on in my head. But I don't want the card to get all busy with text as in the example above. Besides, it looks sarcastic and condescending. So, my choices are: keep redesigning the card to be elegant but foolresistant or just give up on statistics. [Weighs them by flailing hands in the air.]

Gah.