This post will be short and sweet, as this week I am elbow deep in preparations for a wonderful book event next week.  Our Maine Literacy Council, formerly the Maine Reading Association, is hosting our 3rd annual Open House Book Bonanza!  I love this event because it is an opportunity to see what is new in children’s literature for 2014 as well as network with people who love books and reading as much as I do!

As president of the Maine Literacy Council I will be honing my emcee skills as my colleagues and I book talk some of our favorite reads of the year thus far.  We will also be showcasing Maine’s Student Book Award nominees for this school year.  I always leave events like this with by TBR (to be read) list multiplying exponentially!

We spend a lot of our days helping students find those just right books.  We believe that there are books out there waiting  for each reader to connect with.  We know how exciting it is when a kid experiences “book love”.  But what about our friends and colleagues?  How can we create a lifelong joy of reading and live what we teach?

Well, Book Bonanzas or Book Nights might be one way. It’s certainly one that I look forward to.  However, time constraints are a reality in our lives that we sometimes have difficulty overcoming.  If a night doesn’t work for you and your colleagues, what are some other ways you can share those titles and build a community of grown up readers?

• Incorporate a 5 minute book talk at staff meetings.  Encourage staff to sign up and share a new or favorite book.  Think about the evaluating, summarizing and synthesizing skills we could practice as we prepare our talks!
• Start a staff room book review board.  Post a copy of a book jacket on a refrigerator door or bulletin board with your review of the book. If others have read it, invite them to post their own review.  Change it up each month or keep an ongoing collection of book reviews.
• You might like this if….create a 2 column staff favorite list.  On one side is the title of a loved book, in the other column teachers can recommend other books you might like based on the genre, author, series, etc.
• Book Bunch Facebook group…invite staff (or friends) to join a group on Facebook devoted to talking up and recommending good books. You could discuss a book several of you are reading or simply post titles, recommendations and requests on the page that others could comment.
• Book Groups….a classic, but a good one.  There’s nothing quite like sharing the reading experience of a good book with others and seeing what they took away from it or how they respond to it.
• Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers to connect and recommend books. Their mission is “to help people find and share books they love”. What a fantastic way to belong to a huge community of readers.  They’ll recommend titles based upon your reviews and your likes.  You can see what your friends are reading and what is trending.

What are some other suggestions you might have for sharing the love of reading and good books with your friends and colleagues?  I would love to hear them!

In the meantime, if you are in Maine next week…consider yourself invited!

Click below for the Book Bonanza Invitation

https://www.smore.com/x1nr-maine-reading-associaton?embed=1