Do you run any book clubs at your library? Who are they for, adults, teens, tweens, elementary aged readers? Maybe they are even intergenerational? You may be saying “yes” to all of these. At my library we have a number of well established book clubs for adults, who really run things on their own. But kids need a little more structure and frankly, connection with us, their librarians. Running a book club or two (or more) is a great way to connect with readers, promote trying a genre or format outside one’s comfort zone, and build friendships and skills.
This is the second school year that we’ve run our 3 elementary-aged monthly book clubs at my
branch:
- “Book Crew” is for K & 1 and is a read aloud club
- “Wild Readers” is for gr. 2 & 3
- “Page Turners” is for gr. 4 & 5
Our goal is to build confidence by talking about what we read, making predictions, and evaluating the outcome. We are pretty strict about the age groupings, explaining to adults and the kids that we are building social and critical thinking skills and that works better when we keep kids with their peers. Strong readers can help the younger ones go beyond decoding to understanding the big picture of the book. Year one was building a base and learning about the needs of each group. This year we plan on making more real world connections with our books by having activities and even a few guests.
Summer is a different story, with the Summer Reading Challenge, vacations, and increased busyness and program load. That’s where “Fact Finders” comes in–an all-ages nonfiction discovery book club. Our school year books are largely fiction, as I would bet many book clubs choose. But our nonfiction sections are chock full of great reads, just ready for discussion! Each of our 4 weeks in July had a theme, and a number of books were offered to the readers, trying to hit all reading abilities. The premise was to show up, and share something or two from the book you read. The two favorite weeks were “Mushrooms and Other Fungus” and “Wild and Wacky Critters” both capitalizing on the gross factor. Interactives really helped the conversation flow: we looked and smelled yeast and sourdough starter, and one attendee described his athlete’s foot in detail. For our critter week, we voted on whether we thought something was “awwww,” “ewwww,” or truly “yuck.” Blobfish were truly divisive. To be transparent, two weeks were less successful: people to know and times and places. Perhaps a little less playful than fungus.
Next summer “Fact Finders 2.0” will have more structure, and hopefully more sharing from the young readers. Hand-selling the program and the books is a must, as is conveying that advanced preparation is vital to the success of any book club. We all have kids who love to suck up information and share it; now we need to harness that energy into a fun gathering of likeminded readers.
Have you run any book clubs for kids? If so, what tips do you have to share with others?
Our guest blogger today is Judy Ehrenstein. Judy is a children’s librarian in Montgomery County, MD, the chair of the Sibert 25th Anniversary Task Force, and a member of the ALSC Quicklist committee. A perfect day would
involve coffee, a good mystery, and many dogs.
This blog post addresses the following ALSC Core Competencies: I. Commitment to Client Group and III. Programming Skills
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.
If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please read and fill out our Guest Blogging Interest Form. We would love to hear from you!
The post Fact Finders: a nonfiction book club for kids appeared first on ALSC Blog.
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