Please join me in welcoming today's guest blogger, Kimmie Vogt. For the past two years, Kimmie has had the great opportunity to be Wonder Woman Librarian for Hastings Middle School, Hastings, Nebraska. Before that, she was a science teacher for nine years in the same building. Her passion of working with this age group has been with her since she was in middle school (junior high then), because it can be really hard without someone who cares about you. Kimmie lives with her husband -- Spencer (also a middle school teacher), a Great Dane named Luna and two cats of opposite sizes, Bubba (21 lbs) and Gizmo (7 lbs). You can find Kimmie on Twitter or on her blog.
Connecting Kids to Books
How do you connect kids to books? You have to know the kids.
How?
*Talk with them.
*Like them.
*Use their name.
*Show them that you care.
*Know what is going on in their world--talk about video games, movies, One Direction,
Minecraft...whatever it takes.
*Greet them with a “hello” when they walk through the library.
*Bring books to them (in class) that you think they will like or ones they have requested.
*Ask the question, “what book have you read lately that you really liked?” Based off what the kids say, you can help them find books that are similar or use Goodreads/Amazon/Google to help you find books to match.
Other things that seriously help.
*Get out from behind your desk--be with them.
*Read like your hair's on fire (thanks, Patti Digh) and tell the kids they need to as well.
*Plan a library program that is kid friendly with a mixture of 21st century skills, book talks, promoting movies/books and etc.
*Make comfy places available for reading in the library (pillows, bean bags, reading nooks, space for reading, patio for reading outside).
The lists above are the keys to my success for connecting kids with books.
When kids know you care; when kids trust you--that’s when they will keep coming back for more books.
Wow, Kimmie -- I sure wish you'd been my librarian in junior high! Thanks for your passion and wonderful insights.
This kind of post makes me wish I'd been a teacher or librarian. So glad my daughter-in-law is, and so is her mother. Well, she's a principal now, but WAS a teacher :)
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