Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Rounding up readers

In the last post, I bemoaned the fact that we have readers in our middle and high schools who never darken the library door.  In this post, I'll share what I'm doing to try to round up these readers.

In no particular order, here are a few ideas that I'm trying:
*Display New York Times bestsellers that we have in the library for middle grade readers and teens (see photos).
*Go to Barnes and Noble on a regular basis to grab lots of brand new books to minimize the lag time from when the books hit stores to when students check them out (I check reviews in the store using my phone).
*Simplify checkout by eliminating the library card.  Students now self-check using their lunch number.
*Email the middle school and high school reading/English teachers to ask for help in spreading the word about great books and friendly policies in the library such as no fines.
*Beef up the digital eBook collection.
*Make school-wide announcements asking students to save their cash and come to the library to request the book they want to read instead.
*Recruit students to recommend books for our library blog.
*Greet every student who comes to the library.  Engage them in conversations about new books and reading if possible.


What other ideas have worked for rounding up readers at your library?  Please share!

4 comments:

  1. These are great ideas. We would have a morning tea once a term for our students with all the brand new books displayed and ready to borrow.


    We also had a student book request system where the student requested the book - within 24 hours the book had been ordered and when it arrived I would go to the the student's class and give the book to the student. They would always be first to read it. Those books were never on the shelves - lots of students wanting to read the books their friends had recommended.

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  2. Great post! The most important one is "greet them". No one will return to a place they didn't feel welcome.

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    1. Your blog is great--congrats on your recent marriage! I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment at Shelf Consumed.

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  3. Love the idea, Amanda and the way that you're validating your readers. Thanks for taking the time to read Shelf Consumed!

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