Suburban Library System Reference Service
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh...
Exploring Summer Camps

With January temperatures climbing into the upper 50s, it seems a perfect time to talk about summertime events. I've gathered some information to show your patrons how to locate the perfect camp or retreat. (Note that Web sites are listed near the end of this document, after a discussion of print resources.)

The idea of summer camps originated as a "gypsy trip" sponsored by a Connecticut schoolmaster named Frederick W. Gunn, in 1861. He and his wife Abigail took the students in his private boarding school to the beach on Long Island Sound for a two-week expedition, complete with hiking, boating, sailing, and fishing. After a couple of successful repetitions, Gunn established a more permanent camp on an inland lake in Connecticut. The idea rapidly spread throughout the country to associations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and YMCA, as well as to many other private and church groups. By 1922, the President of Harvard made this statement: "The organized summer camp is the most important step in education that America has given the world." While this is probably an exaggeration, there is no doubt that summer camps provide recreation, education, socializing contacts and memories for children - and rest for their weary parents.

Alan Sherman's famous song notwithstanding, summer camps are not just for kids. There are a number of adult retreats now available. No matter what age group is involved, though, what happens at a summer camp can range from pure recreation to an intense learning experience.

The American Camping Association publishes the best all-around source for camps and retreats, titled Guide to ACA-Accredited Camps, 1997/98 edition. Detailed and varied indexes are what make this source particularly useful. There is an alphabetical list of all camps, of course, but this is supplemented by several others, including those for day camps, Christian camps, and camps that rent their facilities. Particularly useful is a "Special Clientele" index for finding camps with specialized facilities and staff trained to deal with health problems and disabilities, as well as camps designed for seniors, single adults, and gifted students. An "Activity Index" lets you locate camps with archery, arts & crafts, or aviation, not to mention backpacking, bicycling, or boating.

The directory itself is arranged with an alphabetical list of camps, state-by-state. Each entry includes a brief description of the emphasis of the camp, activities typically available, a schedule of availability, and contact information. Useful icons denote day camps, resident camps, facilities available for rent, and the availability of transportation or financial aid. A letter grade is assigned each camp to show the average cost. The electronic counterpart to the may be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.aca-camps.org/

Those who prefer to plan their own itinerary while camping might choose Woodall's '97 North American Campground Directory, instead. This voluminous source lists campgrounds with ten or more designated sites available for overnight camping. The arrangement is alphabetical by town, within each state. The U.S. listings are broken into "East" and "West" sections, and Canada and Mexico are also included separately. An alpha list of campgrounds, by state, has been placed at the end of each section.

Each campground is judged by a complicated system of measurements, and is issued a rating from 1 to 5. In addition to normal contact information, the entries include a description of the facilities, recreation opportunities available, directions to the site, costs, and seasons open. These brief entries do not include information about specialized programs, so Woodall's also allows campgrounds to place advertisements with additional facts about the camp; maps are often included. While there is no direct Web-based counterpart to Woodall's, a close approximation may be found at "CampUSA" ( http://www.campusa.com/cu_info.htm). This site bills itself as "A comprehensive national camping directory and guide for campgrounds and recreational vehicle campground resorts and RV dealers."

The Guide to Summer Camps and Summer Schools, 1995-96 Ed. (Porter Sargent, biennial) is a more selective (and therefore ess comprehensive) source of information. Unfortunately, the selection criteria are not stated, so one is left wondering why some schools are included and others excluded. As the title implies, schools are intermingled with camps, but since many of the specialized summer retreats are essentially education-based (e.g., chess camps, computer camps, even sports camps), this kind of grouping makes sense. Coverage is primarily United States and Canada, even though there are a minimal number of schools abroad to justify the claim to be "international." (Note that there is another promising title for those who want to vacation with our northern neighbor: Summer Camps in Canada: A Complete Guide to the Best Summer Camps for Kids and Teens (Polestar, 1995). I was unable to review this source, unfortunately.)

The Guide to Summer Camps and Summer Schools has four principal sections: Academic Programs, Academic Programs for Learning Disabilities, Unusual Program Emphases, Programs for Special Needs, and Recreational Camps. Within each section the arrangement is geographical by state - with the states in rough order from east to west coast. This awkward placement makes it difficult to quickly find camps in a particular state; apparently, the presumption is that most users would be willing to search a multi-state region anyway. A thorough "features" index followed by an alphabetical list of all camps and schools completes this reference work.

There are a variety of specialty directories. I checked several sports directories (the Guide to Golf Schools and Camps, the National Directory of Football and Soccer Sports Camps, and the National Directory of Basketball Sports Camps). As you might expect, these sources list more camps and provide more information about each camp within the narrow focus of their sport. There are many other specialized directories, as well. Using the title keyword search features of Illinet Online and SWAN, you will easily find entries for Christian camps, computer camps, day camps, overnight camps, and camps for the disabled.

As you might expect, the Internet has a wide variety of summer camp finding aids. Unfortunately, I found only one other site (InterCamp) that appears to be comprehensive and as easy-to-use as the Guide to ACA-Accredited Camps or Woodall's; the rest are not really ready for prime time yet. Nevertheless, a variety are listed below. Each has some unique features - and may have just the data your patron needs to make a choice. For every site with geographic limiting capabilities, I've listed the number of Illinois sites included.

American Camping Association Home Page
http://www.aca-camps.org/
Online version of the Guide to ACA-Accredited Camps, described above. The Web site lists 52 Illinois camps.

CampUSA
http://www.campusa.com/
Similar to Woodall's North American Campground Directory in content. Currently includes 193 Illinois campsites, however, many of these could not be considered "summer camps."

InterCamp Summer Camp Directory and Resource
http://www.intercamp.com/
This source includes more than 2,000 camps, searchable by price, location, special needs, and website (many camps have their own Internet presence). Well organized, and search engines are simple and straightforward. InterCamp lists 16 Illinois camps.

CampSearch: The Search Engine for Camps
http://www.campsearch.com/
Although this site also claims to have 2,000+ camps listed, I was unable to verify this due to serious flaws with the search engine. Like all of these sites, the user must fill out a questionnaire, specifying such characteristics as male/female/coed camp desired, locale, price range, etc. This site goes a step further and requires a second questionnaire, forcing the user to select desired camping activities. But after several tries with various combinations led to zero results, I gave up. I include this site here primarily as a warning, because it is a search engine used by at least two major camp-related Web sites. Until the software glitches are repaired, I cannot recommend CampSearch.

Kids' Camps - Camp Directory
http://www.kidscamps.com
Camps are categorized into "Residential," "Sports," "Special Needs," "Family," "Tours & Adventures," "Academic," "Rental Sites," and "Day Camps." Although there is a geographic breakdown within each category, one cannot search "all categories" to get state totals. Judging by my experimentation, the listings are extremely limited at this time.

The Summer Camps Home Page
http://www.summercamps.com
No-frills, simplified menu of camp specialties. The listings are voluntary, hence very sparse. Like many of these pages, the cost of sustaining the site is underwritten by sponsors. No way to ascertain the total number of camps in Illinois.

Camp and Conference HomePage
http://www.camping.org
Listings are so limited that only four camps are mentioned for the entire Midwest! (It does link to a couple of other regional midwestern camp lists, however.) Includes several camping-related features and links. Not a single Illinois camp to be found here.

The Camp Lady
http://www.thecamplady.com/index.html
With a slightly different twist, the "Camp Lady" combines useful information about summer camps with the services of a travel agency. Says the blurb on the home page: "Camp Lady, Inc. is an established camp, school and travel advisory service with more than 500 summer programs." Although the advice given is free, presumably there is an expectation that travel arrangements will be made through the same agency.

Clearly, there are a multitude of resources to help your patron avoid Camp Grenada and its ilk. Happy Camping!