I still remember my youngest as he was going into the 4th grade. He was part of the pilot program testing the iPad classroom with Mr. B. My youngest HATED reading. It was hard, cumbersome, and more work than pleasure. Dyslexia will do that to you.
Because of this, I worried that his reading would backslide throughout the device-in-the-classroom years. In addition, Mr. B was young. New to the teaching arena. NO BOOK REPORTS. And NEVER any homework.
I distinctly remember my youngest as he finished his year under Mr. B’s tutelage. His reading scores had skyrocketed. For the first time, he wasn’t reading significantly below his peers. Why?
If I had to guess, I would say that my youngest thrived on the premise that “when you read a book, you don’t write a report, Mom. You tell people about it.” His words, not mine. Mr. B basically had them in a giant book club for the year. After reading a book, they got into groups and talked about all the things they loved about what they had just read.
Exchanging commentary on great stories is one of the absolute best things about reading. It’s also one of the best things about reading not so great stories. Diverse discussion and exposure to new ideas, writing styles, and genres is one of the most powerful social interactions shared between people.
While the library hosts two book clubs, library staff collectively read way more than we could possibly share in two one hour sessions each month. That said, we love passing along book recommendations to others, so we started/revived the Meinders Library goodreads page.
We’ve added several shelves to help you navigate our diverse reading habits.
- Author Programs: this shelf holds the books of authors who have presented at the library. The great thing about this is you no longer have to remember exactly who wrote what, or try to figure out what you might have missed when other plans collided with our author visits. You can simply pop over to goodreads and peruse the awesome writers who have spoken at the library.
- Book Club: this shelf combines both our book club books into one space. You don’t have to join us for book club to enjoy reading the same books we are.
- Camp Read: this shelf will get big, as Camp Read is a literacy training Emily and I attend each year. Books on this shelf will range from picture book (early literacy) through YA (young adult). Day care providers, educators, parents, and youth can all find vetted books on this shelf.
- Recommended by: lastly, each staff member has a recommended by shelf. As we all like to read vastly different things, you will find a wide range of books across these shelving locations.
So, as Mr. B must have said, When you read a book, don’t write a report. Just tell others about it.
Find us, friend us, and share your book shelves with us on goodreads!
happy reading~ jody
