The Roaming Librarian: Books a la Carte
One of the most successful programs (and one of the most enjoyable) I have done here at Livingston High School is Books a la Carte. As a high school librarian it is often hard to get time to do book talks but they are one of the best ways to get kids to read. Our school has a daily Sustained Silent Reading period of 18 minutes at the begining of third period. Lots of teachers love it but quite a few complain about discipline problems and kids not reading, etc., etc. The kids, of course, have a ton of excuses: I lost my ID, I don't have time to go to the library, I can't find any good books...
So I began offering a library on wheels service. I bring a cart of books to the classroom and do 20-30 quick book talks. I always bring multiple copies of the more popular titles and I checkout the books right in the classroom. I actually have the teacher do the checkouts on paper (on a form I created) so he or she can confirm the kids names even if they don't have their IDs. After my book talks I let the kids rummage through the cart. It is an important step because a lot of kids won't raise their hand and ask for a title I am book talking. I usually get 60%-90% of the kids in any class to take a book. The teachers report that discipline problems during SSR go way down after one of my visits. And since I have started it I have many more kids coming to ask me for recommendations for books.
Submitted by:
Tony Doyle, Library Media Teacher
Livingston High School
Livingston, CA
tdoyle@muhsd.k12.ca.us
Comments (3)
Anonymous said
at 3:28 pm on Mar 1, 2006
That is really neat. Mind if I "steal" your idea and try it out here?
Anonymous said
at 10:03 am on Mar 3, 2006
I like your idea as well. Right now I am trying to set up something similar using our high school's morning announcements videos with something like a "book corner" to be taped in the library.
Anonymous said
at 9:28 am on Sep 8, 2006
I have been doing something similar for several years with our junior high homerooms. Since our school is stretched out among several buildings (and hills), I carry 20-25 YA titles in tote bags -- I call it my "travelling road show!" I do a little intro talk about library services, quick booktalks about each book, and then checkouts at the end. Visits are scheduled with teachers, to tie in with the class independent reading assignments. It's been one of my most successful marketing efforts.
You don't have permission to comment on this page.