Last Tuesday, I attended a webinar faciliated by SLANSW focusing on recommending books to students and it was encouraging to listen to see how other teacher-librarians support students in recommending books.
One teacher librarian who works in a secondary Catholic College near Newcastle shared how she is using reading ambassadors to encourage students to read. She has asked 10 students who are passionate readers to be part of her initative. The students have an opportunity to read new books before they are available for students to borrow along with them being allocated to a specific Year 7 English class.
They also share with other students their favourite books, genres and what they currently read along with their personal recommendations.
I thought the approach was excellent because I have believed strongly that students are more effective at recommending books to their peers than teachers. While as teachers, we may know our students well and their preferences, students like to do other students do. With reading, students are more likely to read if other students read.
It could be something that I would like to do down the track with a group of students because I think it could yield rewards long term.
I was also introduced to the 'book bots' which have been introduced in a number of primary schools. I am hoping they will become available in secondary schools because I think it will simplify the process of choosing a book from the library collection and has proven to engage even the most reluctant readers in reading. I do have a link which explains how a 'book bot' works.
