Building a Reading Culture

Last night we held an open house at our school for our upcoming sixth grade parents and students.  After a presentation from our administrative team and sixth grade faculty, I had the chance to meet and greet lots of families into the library for a quick presentation on how to encourage reading over the summer.  I also took this opportunity to invite the Manager from our local public library branch to talk about summer reading programs and FREE resources available at the public library.  She, in turn, invited the new Youth and Family Services Supervisor to join the conversation.

I'm always happy to find a way to tie in our public library to what we are doing in our school.  During our chat before the presentation, I learned that there will be a new teen center at our main branch inspired by what YouMedia has been doing in Chicago Public Library.  I'm excited about this news and am looking forward to checking it out!!!

Last week the Teen Librarian Toolbox blogged about reluctant readers for Reluctant Reader Week.  Check out the posts linked here.  It's a great resource and the timing was perfect for me.  I printed off the ten tips in this post and handed those out to parents last night.  I used this article from Educational Leadership to create the presentation below.  (The images on tips #2 and #5 are hyperlinked.)

Building a Reading Culture from Lorena Swetnam

This school year I shared weekly literacy tips in our school newsletter along with my regular library news announcements.  I used tips from this article to help me get started.  What literacy events/programs do you use to promote reading with your parents and community at the middle school level?  I'd love to hear!!