MCBA by the Numbers

One of my goals this year has been to keep older elementary kids interested in reading. The Massachusetts Children's Book Award was instituted for this same reason, so I thought it was an easy enough way to try to achieve my goal. The premise of the program is simple: from a list of 20+ books, 4th-6th grade students read at least 5 of them, and then they get to vote on their favorite. Votes are tallied from around the state, and each participating library gets a certificate with the winning book.

We had our voting party this week, and Roller Girl was the Loker favorite - we'll have to wait a few more weeks to see what the rest of the state thought! A quick shot of our voting party spread and prize for participating:

With it being the first year, I wasn't sure what to expect, but overall, I think interest was high enough to do it again next year.

MCBA BY THE NUMBERS:

• The 25 titles that were on the list this year circulated 135 times from mid-October to mid-March 
• 22 out of 97 4th and 5th graders read at least one book as part of the contest 
• 12 students read at least 5 and were eligible to vote 
• Most books read was 17 by one eager 5th grader

As there is always room for improvement, my initial ideas to boost participation next year:

• Have the books ordered over the summer, so that readers have an extra month to participate
• Host a monthly book club to discuss a different book 
• Hopefully, enjoy a little word-of-mouth, where this year's 4th graders spread the word to their classmates!

New semester

Hooray! I'm actually not commencing another semester-long break from blogging, even though it's not required for either of the classes I am taking this fall. Progress, for sure.

My two classes this semester are EDU classes (vs. LBS) so not as interesting to blog about but I am doing some library volunteering that has me pretty excited.

In my home school district, there isn't budget for an elementary librarian, so all five elementary libraries are parent-run. Which, coincidentally, is a good opportunity for an elementary school parent looking to become a librarian.

I'll be helping out with my daughter's K class (mostly checking in and out books, and choosing a book to read aloud), but another way I'm helping is through a really cool program called the Massachusetts Children's Book Award (MCBA).

In a nutshell, this program was designed to continue momentum for reading for upper elementary students in the hopes that it will carry them through middle school and beyond. It essentially culls a list of 25 books - across genres, targeted to all levels of readers - and encourages students to choose at least 5 to read between now and March. Those students who read all 5 (or more) will be eligible to attend a special breakfast event at the school and vote on their favorite.

I attended one of the kick off meetings for a 4th grade class this morning and it was awesome. The kids were SO excited about the program (helped by the strategic reading of some introductory sentences of a few of the books by my fellow volunteer - a very effective form of booktalking) and eagerly waited their turn to peruse the special shelf designated for the program. I'm looking forward to seeing which books are the most popular, and hopefully reading a few myself.

Another highlight were the questions they had after our spiel - apparently they really want French toast and waffles brought in - I'm glad we have a few months to hone our breakfast menu!