Reading Incentives

As librarians one of our goals is to keep children reading. One way to do that is to use reading incentives. Luckily for elementary students there are a lot of programs already in place. Our school participates in several programs such as Readers are Leaders, Bluebonnet Books, Earning by Learning, and Reading is Fundamental. We also have the Dallas Stars Stick with Reading, Dallas Cowboys Read, Play, Win, and Six Flags Read to Succeed. Honestly, there are so many it is hard to keep up with them all.

This coming school year I would like to do another reading incentive. This one will not involve fancy printed reading logs, quizzes, of forms to fill out. What I would like to do is recognize the classes that are reading the most. Each six weeks I will use the library reports to determine which class is checking out the most books. That class will be announced as the winners and they will get extra time in the library for fun activities. During that time we might listen to stories, or bring pillows and sprawl out all over the library reading, there might be a book grab box, or hot chocolate. The reward will not be the same each six weeks so classes will want to win every time. I hope that will help keep kids interested in checking out books and reading.

Ideas for 2011-2012

Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell

Me...Jane is a picture book about Jane Goodall. It is written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell, the creator of the comic strip MUTTS. The book tells of young Jane's fascination with animals and nature. She and her stuffed chimpanzee, Jubilee, have imaginative adventures in the outdoors. Jane always spent time outside, observing nature and recording her observations. In the book we have an example of her science notebook from childhood.

The book is an inspiration for everyone to follow their dreams as Jane does. At the end of the book there is a picture of adult Jane, who followed her dreams all the way to Africa.

Here is a short interview with Jane Goodall.

What Can Your Library Do for You?

In today's tough economic times libraries have been under attack from over-zealous budget cutters. Often it seems that legislators and other law-makers view libraries are archaic, unnecessary vehicles from the past. What can we, librarians and library-users, do to change their minds?How can we defend the library, and prove that we are relevant and beneficial?

One thing we can do is advocate for our libraries. We must make sure our libraries have a mission and a purpose. The stake-holders must be clearly identified, and the library programs should be tailored support them. Then we can advocate, or support, our library by making sure everyone understands the benefits a library provides.