Thursday, February 2, 2017
Blind Date With a Book!
Are you looking for an exciting reading promotion that will get your students to check out more books? Try doing a Blind Date With a Book. When I first started my position at Indian Mills Middle School a couple of months ago, I noticed that many of my students - especially my 7th and 8th graders - do not borrow books from the library. This was heartbreaking to me, especially since we have such an awesome collection. So I am making it my mission this year to up those circulation statistics through lots of fantastic reading promotions. The Blind Date with a Book has been a great way to get those reluctant readers to borrow library books.
So what is Blind Date with a Book?
Blind Date with a Book is a reading display/promotion where you cover the books up and write only short descriptions of the book - like the genre, themes, or some librarians just write the first line from the novel. Many libraries do it during the month of February, for Valentine's DayHere's How I Did It . . .
- I picked some awesome books. Those books that are not the most popular (so no novels they will be reading in class, or that have been made into popular movies)
- I wrapped those books up in brown wrapping paper. You know - the kind you wrap packages in.
- I cut out a red heart and wrote the genre and themes of each book and taped the heart to the front of the book once it was covered up.
- I wrote the barcode number on the back of the book once it was covered up.
- I added some inexpensive Valentine's ribbon I found at the dollar store to 2 corners. I just taped the ribbon on (when students check out the book, I take off the ribbon and reuse, so I don't have to keep using the ribbon)
My Display Area
My display area consists of plastic hearts, Valentine's Day helium balloon weights, and Valentine's Day tinsel. All of these things I found at the dollar store. I also used book stands to stand the books up. I created the sign with our letter machne. I also created a sign with directions for participating in the Blind Date with a Book.
Incentive to Read the Book
I wanted to make sure my students were not just borrowing the books, but reading the book, too. In order to achieve this, I created bookmarks that have an area to write a short review of the book they read. Once students bring the bookmark back to me all filled out, they receive a small bag filled with candy and stickers. Not too crazy about handing out candy? Be creative and use something else . . . Bookmarks, pencils, extra time on the computer pass. So many possibilities.
This has been a highly successful promotion, and I recommend creating display areas and promotions like this often. A great way to keep kids excited about reading and coming to the library!
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