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Read-a-Thon Reading Promotion One of the biggest reasons I wanted to pursue a Masters of Science in School Librarianship was because of my deep love and appreciation for reading, and to encourage my students to have the same appreciation for reading. According to AASL Standard 2.2 focuses on librarians “using a variety of strategies to promote leisure reading and model personal enjoyment of reading…” Focusing on this component of the standard I developed the idea of a reading promotion for grades 7 and 8 called “Read-a-Thon.” The goal of read-a-thon would be to have the librarian, teachers, parents, and students participate in an all-night event, discussing their favorite books, watching film adaptations of their favorite books, and winning prizes for participating. The idea I had behind this reading promotion was to encourage students to read and discuss the books and also show others that reading is fun. The books showcased for this event will mainly cover the most popular book series (a survey that will be completed previously by the students and also by professional reviews reviewed by the librarian) as well as other possibly unknown books. The books chosen will appeal to both male and female readers and reluctant readers. Books for consideration would be The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Mickey Bolitar Novel Series by Harlen Coben, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. There are so many students who enjoy reading book series and viewing the movies afterwards, I felt this would be a great way for students to get together to spend one full night reading their favorite books, viewing the movies, and also participating in other activities like a Poetry Slam or a comic book writing session provided by the art teacher. As an added bonus and to entice more students to join in on the fun, prizes would be awarded to the students such as gift cards, movie tickets, iPod mini, KindleFire, etc. Funding would come from donations from local businesses and community members; the remainder of the funds would come from the monies allotted to the library. The library would provide food and refreshments; chaperons would include volunteer parents and teachers, as well as administrators. All students and their parents are encouraged to attend and participate in an activity that both promotes reading, but also reading for personal enjoyment. Including the parents in this activity would show the unity between the school and the parents. I know that this promotion could be a lot to take on because of the amount of time it would take to prepare for an event like this, and then to get all parties to help fundraise, and of course to write the proposal for approval. I would have to encourage administration, teachers, and parents to volunteer and help promote the activity. Having administration and other teachers involved would show the students the effects of reading through the eyes of other people besides the librarian. Despite the challenges, I feel that a promotion like this could encourage more students to want to pick up a book and read it and actually enjoy it. The key is to have multiple areas of interest promoted in the library to appeal to all students. AASL Standard 2.2 requires the librarian to not only promote reading, but to encourage students to become lifelong readers and to model reading for enjoyment. What better way to do that than with a little popcorn, a little art, and an all-nighter in the library? While this reading promotion is bigger than creating a book trailer for a popular book or forming an after school book club, I think incorporating the other content areas (like art and poetry) would encourage more students to want to participate. I really like this idea and I feel like this would show the library in a different light. Incorporating the books and the movies, the graphic novels and art, the poetry and discussion could show the diversity of the library and in turn entice the non-patron of the library to give it a try. |