Category: Read-a-Latte

Library hosts book giveaway

2/10/2024

Sterling Jr.-Sr. High School Library's "Read-a-Latte" event invited students to visit the library January 25-26 where each student was able to choose a free book and was treated to a free cookie and hot drink. The fifth annual “warm up with a good book” event gave students time to select a book and spend some time leisure reading.

“For over a year, we’ve been collecting new and gently used middle school and young adult books with the goal of having enough to gift a book to every student in grades 7-12,” explained district librarian Amy Brownlee. The books had broad appeal ranging from sports, history, and science titles to fantasy, romance, graphic novels, and manga. “Studies show that the more students read, the better their achievement in all subject areas,” Brownlee said. “Students are more apt to read books they have easy access to and select themselves. An event like this is a fun way to encourage literacy and learning.”

Some books were donated, and others were purchased from discount sources like thrift stores and yard sales throughout the year. According to Brownlee, “it was a team effort.” Library assistant Michelle Miller organized the giveaway books by genre for easy browsing. Food services coordinator Sandy Skucius and her staff baked homemade cookies for the event, and FACS teacher Carol Prather organized and staffed the hot drink bar with the assistance of her classes where they served hot chocolate with a variety of add-ins like nutella, marshmallows, and whipped cream.

In addition, English teachers were generous in giving their class time to bring students to the library for the event. Over 300 books and magazines were chosen by readers. Extra books were offered for free to students and staff.

0 Comments

What is your purpose?

1/26/2024

0 Comments

This past week I was part of a focus group for a research project from the Department of Information Science at the University of North Texas. The focus group gathered a small group of middle school and high school librarians from around the country via Zoom and asked questions about what kind of data we collected and how we used it. Information from the focus group will be used to create professional development on evidence-based practice.

To start the session, the leader asked each participant to tell our name, where we are located, and to tell our purpose. Why are we librarians? What are our overarching goals in our work?

It's been a long time since I contemplated this question. After 23 years in the library, I have seen many changes in the library world and education in general. I was a little bit surprised at what I found myself saying:

I am passionate about giving students a positive experience with the library, reading and books. I also want to provide a safe space where everyone feels welcome and included. It's about cultivating relationships and helping students connect with a caring adult. Of course I want to build a diverse collection where every student is represented and connect students with books, but I know that not all students consider themselves readers. I want even the reluctant readers to feel welcome in the library and that there is something for them here.

I started thinking about my everyday practice and programs I have developed and found that they fit with the ideas I shared in the focus group. Here are some of the practices that align with those ideas:

A weekly storytime for preschoolers that incorporates puppets, fingerplays, and songs
A K-5 STEAM program that was developed over a 5 year period as I wrote grants and sought funding for equipment and materials
An annual "Read-a-Latte" program for middle school & high school where English teachers bring their classes to the library and students get to pick out a free book or magazine to keep (I've seen other schools call this a "free book fair"), enjoy a hot drink and cookie, and spend the class period reading and discussing books with peers.

I am a huge fan of Mychal Threets, a California librarian with thousands of social media followers. Threets regularly posts videos full of love and support for libraries and the people who frequent them. This week, Threets was posting about a program he'd like to implement at his library, and this is one of the goals he listed for the event: "to exchange moments of happiness and belonging with library visitors."

To exchange moments of happiness and belonging with library visitors." -Mychal Threets

Yes! I thought. I love this description. It confirms that making positive connections and building relationships with people is more important than teaching lessons or shelving books or collecting overdues. It's more important than circulation statistics and reading scores. Helping people feel a sense of happiness and belonging isn't just a little thing--it's everything.

0 Comments

Library hosts book giveaway

What is your purpose?

Amy Brownlee

Archives

Categories