[ISLMA-Share] Teen Book Clubs

[Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association]

I love the name. Might have to make that maneuver myself. We buy paperback
copies of the book and charge $5 a piece. (The full cost is absorbed by the
library.) Likewise, fee waived students have the office pick up their $5.
We meet once a week, after school, taking turns forgetting the snacks. (I
have moved to an advanced sign up sheet and using Remind 101 to send out a
nudge about how far you are supposed to have read and who is in charge of
snacks. We usually assign 3 kids to bring snacks each week.) We assign the
book in sections and students are not permitted to read ahead. Usually we
do about 40 pages a week. This is the amount virtually anyone could cram in
on the night before. I no longer double this amount on weeks we have a
holiday...I found that just meant nobody read at all.

Over the course of the year we finish about three books.

The key in selecting a good time to meet is to ask the kids---I put out a
document that included all possible times---one kid was very helpful and
indicated which time GSA meant. Stay off of that time slot---it's a lot of
the same kids. We currently have about 30 kids signed up and probably 15
who attend on any given week. There are always more in the fall and it
dwindles by late spring---don't count yourself as a failure, it's just the
way it goes. To date, I think I have two engagements of former students
whose relationships were intially kindled in book club. ;-)

Leah Krippner
Librarian, Harlem High School
I am currently reading *I'll Give You the Sun* by Jandy Nelson

On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 7:25 AM, Email list for the Illinois School Library
Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> My school saw an immediate increase in the numbers for our book club when
> we changed the name to Varsity Reading Team (because book clubs are
> something that moms do, apparently). The students vote 2 months in advance
> on what they'd like to read (giving us enough time to get additional copies
> via ILL and for the students to actually read them), and since we meet
> before school, I bring in donuts. We also only meet once a month, and while
> the voted book is usually where the conversation starts, there's a tendency
> to go on tangents, so I encourage students to come even if they haven't
> read the book because they can still share what they've been reading
> instead with the rest of the group. It's still a small group - only about
> 10 kids - but they are enthusiastic!
>
> Monica Fumarolo
> Librarian
> Lake Forest High School
> Lake Forest, IL
>
> On Mon, Nov 28, 2016 at 3:09 PM, Email list for the Illinois School
> Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
>> Anyone have ideas/suggestions on how to get teens more willing to be
>> involved in a monthly book club?
>>
>> --
>> Crystal Ballard
>> District Librarian
>> School District of Beloit
>> 1225 Fourth St
>> Beloit, WI 53511
>> 608-361-3230
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Monica L. Fumarolo
> B.A. - English, Secondary School Teaching
> M.S. - Library and Information Science
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>
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-- 
This email was sent by a staff member of Harlem Consolidated School 
District 122.
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