Little Free Library book drive

Our upper school book club members hosted a book drive with the sixth grade recently with great results.  We collected almost 2,000 books to benefit Little Free Libraries.  Probably more important, our upper school book club members started the seeds of a relationship with sixth graders who absolutely worship these older readers.

We have about 17 upper school students who regularly attend our monthly book club meetings at lunch.  They've been wanting to do a service project for a while, and finding Little Free Libraries was a happy serendipity. 

Over the winter break, one of our teachers built his own Little Free Library and plans to place it near an urban community center.  About the same time, I got approval from my neighborhood's HOA to place a Little Free Library in our community center. 

Our book club had the idea to collect gently used children's books to stock these libraries. Each book club member was assigned to a sixth grade advisory and the upper school students went to sixth grade advisory meetings several times to promote the book drive and encourage participation. 

Both the upper schoolers and the sixth graders are happy with the results, and we hope to be able to sponsor our own Little Free Library next year.

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!

The Reader's Bill of Rights, Daniel Pennac

Have you read Daniel Pennac's wonderful book on creating readers, Better Than Life?  It was published in the '90s, and it's a gem. 

The front cover features a quote by Regie Routman that sums up the essence of the book well. "Anyone who loves to read and wants our young people to develop a similar passion will savor Better Than Life--an enchanting, beautifully written, and wise book."

"The Reader's Bill of Rights" is one of the best and most quoted parts of the book.  Many versions exist online, including an illustrated one that has changed the original wording, but I like Pennac's version the best.

If we are to develop the love of reading in young children and teens, it is critical to allow them the freedom that these rights afford. 

The Reader's Bill of Rights, Daniel Pennac

1.  The right not to read.
2.  The right to skip pages.
3.  The right not to finish.
4.  The right to reread.
5.  The right to read anything.
6.  The right to escapism.
7.  The right to read anywhere.
8.  The right to browse.
9.  The right to read aloud.
10. The right not to defend your taste.

Happy reading, friends!

The Wise Man Said it Best...

Fotalia

John Green, amazing YA author and YouTube sensation, recently tweeted the following,

"50 million Americans haven't read a book in the past 12 months. As a business, THAT'S our #1 problem--not format or distribution models."

Of course we have to think about format and distribution models.  It's our job to provide for our patrons in the most friendly, useable, cost-efficient, and sustainable ways possible.  It's our job to meet their information and reading needs. 

But if our patrons don't have reading needs, John Green is right.  Helping to create readers should be our priority.

Get your read on, y'all!

It's a great time of year in Texas for finding good books. Over the past year, committees of librarians across the state have been reading the best in newly-published books in order to form the Texas 2 x 2, Bluebonnet, Lone Star, Tayshas, and Maverick reading lists.

Here's a short guide to these lists designed to promote pleasure reading:

Texas 2 x 2 list: 2 year-olds through second grade
(new list not released at the time of this post)

Bluebonnet: third through sixth grades

Lone Star: sixth through eighth grades

Tayshas: ninth through twelfth grades

Maverick: graphic novels for grades sixth through twelve.

Happy reading, y'all.

Creating a community of readers

For me there's nothing more fun than the smile of a kiddo who has read a book and loved it.  And if it's a book that I recommended, that's an amazing feeling.

And creating a community of readers?  Making progress toward that wonderful and lofty goal would probably be enough for most of us to retire happy.

But how can we set the tone for a community of readers at our schools?  How can we create excitement for pleasure reading when many kids think that's an oxymoron?

Let's start with what it's not.

Creating readers is NOT:
*based on rewards
*mandated
*tested
*computerized
*censored
*judgmental
*solitary

And on the positive side...

What do readers need?
*Choice
*Adults to model a love of reading
*Someone to recommend books especially for them
*Time
*A variety of books in many formats
*An opportunity to share what they read

What can we do to set the tone for a community of readers?

*Read what the kids read
*Read a ton
*Have an awesome collection
*Talk to kids about books
*Provide programming that encourages reading
*Know a wide variety of authors to recommend
*Keep a list of what you read

I'd love to hear your ideas for creating readers--please do share! I'll be happy to post them here, along with a list of programs that may encourage reading.

In the meantime, there's a good book and a comfy sofa that's calling my name...

Nurture your (summer) reader

An open letter to parents, grandparents, and caregivers:

Summer is here, and with it comes swimming, vacations, lazy days, and hopefully, reading.

A landmark study reported in SLJ concludes that "...children who read at least six books during the summer maintained or improved their reading skills, while kids who didn't read any saw their skills slip by as much as an entire grade level"(See previous post).

The key to reading (summer or otherwise) is to make it enjoyable. If reading becomes a chore, it can be tedious at best and damaging to your child’s chances of becoming a lifelong reader at worst.

With this in mind, below are some tips for nurturing your reader:

1. Reading isn't just for bedtime.
You’re tired. Your kids are tired. Try setting aside another time when everyone is fresher and less cranky.

2. Allow your kids to choose their own books.
The most important thing is that they like the books they choose. If not, keep looking or ask a librarian for suggestions. Don’t force your taste on kids or make them read books that would be “good for them.”

3. Reading is its own reward.
We don’t need incentives to do pleasurable things, so if you hold up a carrot to get your kids to read, they will think of reading as something they have to be bribed to do.

4. Don’t say reading is important. Show it.
If you don’t read for pleasure, it’s going to be tough for your kids to be readers.

5. Reading aloud isn’t just for little kids.
Go ahead. Don’t be afraid to be goofy. Do the voices!

6. Provide the opportunity for reading.
Turn off the TV. Take books everywhere you go. Listen to audiobooks in the car.

7. Allow all types of reading.
Print books, ebooks, and audiobooks all “count” as reading. Ditto for magazines, comics, and graphic novels.

8. Own books.
Checking books out from the library is great, but nothing beats having a personal copy of favorite books. Give a bookstore gift card for special occasions!

9. Allow your kids the right to quit reading a book if they don’t like it and to re-read a book as many times as they want if they love it.

10. Talk about books with your kids.
Strike up a conversation about what they’re reading, not to test their comprehension, but to show genuine interest.

As summer ends and school begins, I hope you can look back at summer with memories of great vacations, lazy days, and favorite books that you and your child have shared.

Turkey, holiday gifts, and summer reading...

Your Thanksgiving turkey is in the freezer and you have a pretty good start on holiday gifts, but have you planned summer reading yet?

Summer reading?  Oh, I leave that to our public library, you say. They do a terrific job. Yep. Ours does too. I am amazed at what our public library does each summer and grateful for their work.

But you can help too.  And why should you?

Consider the implications of a landmark study cited in a School Library Journal article this month by Carol Fiore and Susan Roman, "Summer Reading Programs Boost Student Achievement."  

The study concludes that "...children who read at least six books during the summer maintained or improved their reading skills, while kids who didn't read any saw their skills slip by as much as an entire grade level" (p. 27).  

An entire grade level.  Are you up for summer reading in your school library now?

If so, be sure to read Carol Gordon's article, also in SLJ's November 2010 issue, "Meeting Readers Where They Are: Mapping the Intersection of Research and Practice."

Both articles will provide data and ideas to give your planning for summer reading a thoughtful boost.

So what can you do?

*Open your school library one morning or afternoon a week in the summer. Be sure your administrator is on board since getting the AC turned on in the summer may be a hurdle (Middle school and high school librarians, secondary kids need to read as much as the little guys!)

*Begin creating relationships with students who likely wouldn't consider going to the library in the summer but may need it most.  Fiore and Roman cite research that summer reading participants are most often girls, Caucasian, and advantaged, so try to expand these boundaries significantly. 

*Reach out to parents and grandparents of these students.  Kids are going to need a ride, and probably encouragement to come to the library in the summer.

*Don't feel compelled to "do programming" each week.  Check out books, recommend books to kids in a personal way, and provide a venue for kids to interact with each other about books.  Snacks are good!

*Use web 2.0 tools to help create your community of readers.  Run student-created book trailers on a loop, display book covers in a digital picture frame at the circ desk, and set up a great-looking summer reading blog in which students can recommend their favorites.   Have kids use flip cameras to interview their friends for recommendations or to make short book commercials.

*Create a welcoming atmosphere in the library.  Smile and greet each student by name.  Display books face out and have lists available of popular series, genre recommendations, and authors.  Good signage helps demystify finding books.  Visit with kids.

*Offer new books that kids will want to read.  Provide free choice.  Talk to kids about what they read and set up a venue for them to talk to their peers about books.

*Consider another name (or no name at all) than summer reading.  Ick. 

*Model reading yourself, and read what they're reading.  This part is huge!

*"Reading is its own reward," notes Carol Gordon by way of Krashen in "Meeting Readers..."  Yes!  Don't cheapen reading by bribing kids with rewards, prizes, or certificates for summer reading.  Don't make it homework by asking them to give reports or keep lists.  Show them how to read for fun.  PERIOD.

How can you help students retain critical skills in the summer? Open the library.  Welcome kids, and get to know them well enough to recommend books they'll like.  Read with them.  Talk to them.

And now that you have summer reading (or whatever you're going to call it) planned, we can get back to thinking about that holiday menu.  Cheers!

Just right books or just for fun books?

Occasionally when doing reader's advisory with kids we find ourselves in the middle of a situation.  A kiddo wants one book and the parent or teacher wants him to have a different book. 

The book the kiddo has chosen is (fill in the blank here) too short, too long, too much below his reading level, too much above his reading level, too silly, too scary, and basically, just not what the adult wants for the child.

The kid looks at us beseechingly--help!  The parent or teacher also looks to us for help, but it's more of in the "adults stick together" way.  What do you do?

How about if everyone can win? 

How about if the kiddo can check out whatever "just for fun book" that he likes?  That way it doesn't really matter if the kindergartener checks out a 500 page tome.  It makes him feel like a reader.  Let him go!  It doesn't really matter if a fifth grader checks out a drawing book.  It's fun.  Let him go! 

Ditto for series books.  This might be a good opportunity to briefly explain the importance of series books in creating readers (see the birthday cake theory post) and the fact that it's critical for readers to have freedom of choice in selecting what they read.

Chances are if the kid is allowed to check out his "just for fun" book, then he won't care if the adult prevails with what she considers the "just right" book. 

Everybody goes away happy, and most importantly, the kid's choice has counted for something.  In that case, we all win.

And with good reader's advisory, librarians will likely have another chance to recommend books the kiddo will love.  If we force choices on him, he may never darken the library door again.

Keeping a reader's list

As you're reading, I hope that you'll consider keeping a Reader's List.  A reader's list is just that--a list of the titles and authors of every book you read. 

I wish I would have started my Reader's List as a child, or even the first year I became a librarian.  I didn't think to start it until my first year on the Lone Star committee, but even so, I love my list.  It would rank up there with the Top Five Things I'd Save in a Fire.  I tell my boys it's my legacy and have asked them not give it to Goodwill when I'm dead.  They, of course, roll their eyes.

When I started my Reader's List, I didn't think about my legacy, so for years I simply used little red notebooks that I'd get at the dollar store.  I fell in love with a leather journal and recopied ten years of titles into the new book.  After I'd finished, I found the beautiful brown journal with the alphabet on the front and recopied the titles yet again.  Now I don't look at new journals.

Here are a few tips to get you started...

1.  List only the title and author of each book read.
2.  Ditch the temptation to give a rating, write a summary, or keep track of the genre.
3.  At the top of each page, list the month and year.
4.  Number the books you read chronologically from 1 to infinity. 
     Don't start over each month or year.  This way you'll always know your running total.
5.  Personally, I use the exact same type of pen every time.  Black roller ball, medium ink.
      (But you're probably more well adjusted than I am).
6.  Feel free to mix adult titles in with the zillions of children's or YA books you read.
7.  Remember to include audiobooks on your list.  Audiobooks are books too!

Ask Me What to Read...

I'm going to go out on a limb and assert that there has never been a more important time for librarians to be reader's advisors.  And yes, that's another post for another day.

For today, I'll just say that the first step in being a good reader's advisor is to read.  Yes, READ.  Did you just slap yourself on the side of the head and mutter, "Duh?"  Good for you.  Because sadly, many librarians and teachers attempt reader's advisory every day without having actually read very many books.  And kids can spot these imposters a mile away.

Kid:  Do you know a really scary book I can read?
Imposter: Well, I've heard that new vampire book is scary.
Kid: Have you read it?
Imposter: No, but it's been checked out a bunch of times, so it must be good.

Since you're not one of THOSE librarians, you will undoubtedly be reading a lot of children's or YA books.  You'll be keeping a list of what you read.  You'll know authors.  You'll read many different genres. 

But since there are so, so many books and so, so little time, how do you choose WHICH books to read?

A few ideas may help you narrow your selections.

1.  Using an online ordering tool, do a collection development search.  Narrow search results to books published in the current year only with 2 or 3 starred reviews.  Print the list and read what sounds good or what you think your kids might like.
2.  Use the summer to read the books on the next year's Texas 2 x 2, Bluebonnet, Lone Star, or Tayshas list, for example.
3.  In January most review journals will highlight the best books of the year or editors' choices.  Copy these pages and read what sounds best.
4.  Read the first book of that hot new series, but don't feel like you have to read every book in the series unless you absolutely love them. 
5.  Ask kids to help keep you in the know when they spot new books online or in the bookstore.

Ranganathan's Laws Say it All...

I'm back to library school mode today for a piece that I think is essential in shaping a library philosophy that centers around the needs of its users (aka students and staff).

In 1963, noted library scholar S.R. Ranganathan published the Five Laws of Library Science.  These laws are as follows:

1.  Books are for use.

2.  Every reader his book.

3.  Every book its reader.
4.  Save the time of the reader.
5.  The library is a growing organism.

From time to time, library scholars have attempted to revise Ranganathan's laws.  Surely we can't use the anachronistic pronoun he!  Everyone knows that the library has more than books! Certainly we must substitute the word media!  What about...? What about...?

Of course our libraries serve all students with all formats of materials.  We have digital collections and a virtual presence.  We are about information literacy AND books and reading.

But, aaargh!  Don't mess with Ranganathan.

I contend that his laws are perfect.  They are short and simple, they're beautifully written, and the embedded philosophy is one of meeting the needs of all users.

And if you really apply the spirit of Ranganathan's laws, I think you'll have a pretty fantastic library that prepares students to be readers and learners in the 21st century.

Voices of Readers:How We Come to Love Books (Carlsen & Sherrill)

One of the best books on creating readers is Voices of Readers: How We Come to Love Books.  It was published in 1988 and is out of print, but you can read it on ERIC, and it's well worth the purchase price if you can find a used copy online.

G. Robert Carlsen is a former professor for preservice English teachers.  Each semester of his thirty year career, Carlsen's first assignment was to ask students to write a reading autobiography.  The prompts were simple.  "What did they remember about learning how to read?  Who, if anyone, had been important in developing their attitudes toward reading?  When and where did they read" (Introduction, x).

Carlsen saved every paper, and toward the end of his career, these autobiographies numbered in the thousands.  Anne Sherrill, a doctoral student, assisted Carlsen in rereading each, cataloging the responses, and documenting patterns of experiences that were either instrumental or detrimental in creating readers.

Voices of Readers is the delightful result.  The book is packed with anecdotes of covert reading under the covers, warm memories of parents and teachers reading aloud, and frustration of being forced to read certain books at school. As you read it, you'll recognize yourself and your own journey as a reader.

Carlsen remarks on his surprise in the similarity of the students' experiences in becoming readers.  After all, his career spanned the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s and included universities in Iowa, Colorado, Texas, Hawaii, and Tennessee.  Maybe the love of reading is inborn, Carlsen muses.  But if not, he continues, "The voices in this book...give us hints of how to go about developing and encouraging readers..." (Introduction xi).

One of the great pieces of the book is the two-page chart, "Experiences Likely to Create Readers" which categorizes these experiences by age (p. 152-153).

For example, in the 12-14 year old age group, Carlsen lists the following as likely to create readers:

• Setting aside time for reading
• Having a teacher show interest in the individual's reading
• Having teachers read aloud
• Being exposed to a variety of reading fare
• Receiving help from librarians (!) 
• Owning books
• Sharing books with friends
• Participating in reader-centered discussions of literature
• Generating nontraditional book reports
• Being allowed freedom of choice in reading fare

If we affirm that creating readers is high on our list of really important stuff, then Voices of Readers is a critical piece in the canon of our professional reading. 

Many thanks to NCTE for permission to use this work here.

Carlsen, G. Robert and Anne Sherrill.  1988.  Voices of Readers: How We Come to Love Books.  Urbana: IL:  National Council of Teachers of English.

Copyright 1988 by the National Council of Teachers of English. Reprinted with permission.

Readers don't need carrots and sticks...

Is your library program counterproductive in creating readers? Read Daniel Pink's DRIVE for a possible paradigm shift.