February
26
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The Thrill of New Books by Millicent Flake
When I started as a middle school media specialist after 10 years in an elementary school, one of the biggest adjustments was the lack of money for new books. I went from a fairly large school to a much smaller one and my budget was practically non-existent. After a frustrating few years, I decided I had to find some money that was mine alone and started going after grants.
Being in a low-income school has its advantages in getting grants, and I was very fortunate one year to receive $3,000 to buy nonfiction books from Dollar General Literacy Foundation and the next year to receive $5000 from the Laura Bush Foundation. Both of these organizations are very generous to schools that serve under-privileged children and have a fairly easy grant proposal process.
I was excited to weed out and replace many of the tattered copies on my shelves, but what I had not anticipated was the excitement the new books would generate among the students. As the boxes of new books started arriving in the library, kids would gather around to be the first to see them. Each new shipment was like Christmas morning as they got to experience that new book feel and smell. Many of them wanted me to put their names on certain books so they could be the first to check them out once they were catalogued!
The windfalls from the two grants have changed the atmosphere in my media center. Students have gotten used to having the latest titles to choose from, especially in the more mature Young Adult section. I have seen the difference having quality, up-to-date materials has had on their excitement for reading.
This past year I did not apply for a grant, but I have been ordering through First Book Marketplace, a book seller dedicated to putting books into the hands of low-income children. They also provide mini-grants that enable schools to receive books, audio books and other materials for only the price of shipping. Through one of these mini-grants, I recently received 12 boxed sets of Wonder and Mr.Brown’s Precepts by R.J. Palacio for only a few dollars per set. We created a writing contest for the students on the topic “My favorite quote,” and rewarded the boxed sets to the winning students. The students were thrilled to get the quality, hardback books to take home, which for several of them, may have been their first books ever. The pride they felt was priceless.
In my career as a media specialist, I have been through all of the different ways to try to get children and young teens to read, from Accelerated Reader stores and chances to win an iPad, to forced reading and book reports, and I have decided that the best way to encourage a love of reading is for the students to have access to up-to-date, relevant literature. When they find a well-written story that has characters with whom they can relate, we can keep them coming back for more.
Millicent Flake is a middle school media specialist who enjoys helping students find books they love. She also enjoys running, working in her flower garden and writing. You can read her blog at Under the Magnolia Tree.
Nerdy Book Club 
Yes, yes, YES. All of this. Every.word. If only the bean counters knew…
Keep up the great work you are doing!
How exciting for you and your students! Getting new books in the library plus getting some to own are so awesome!
It is very rewarding! Thanks Larnette
This was such an inspiring post and I can absolutely relate to the feeling. I am overjoyed when I order a new book for myself and when it arrives I’m so excited I want to read it right away. Keep doing what you’re doing for these kids Millicent!
Couldn’t agree more!! Those Scholastic Books arriving each month or so create more excitement than a new puppy. So agree on the AR carrot stick approach. I am looking for some help researching the cons of AR. My kids at home have been tortured with it over the years, and I only see the negatives. Might someone might have some tips to use when talking with other staff members on this topic? It is a sensitive one.
As a mom, I believe this to be true, too. Every time we come home from the book fair with new books, my kids put down their electronics to pour over their new books for hours. It is so satisfying!
And by the way, Christopher LOVED “Wonder”.
Like you, I love books. Not only did I want to teach my students to read but to love to read. I enjoyed my years working with you, a fellow book lover. So happy you were able to find the resources you needed. Keep on reading……and encouraging others to read also.
Thank you!
How wonderful and inspiring!!!
That’s fantastic! My students always crowd around the Scholastic box when it arrives to see what new things we’ve got. Wonder is simply amazing….
I am encouraged that middle schoolers still love to read!
I wanted to thank you for this post – it is what I needed tonight. I moved this year from a private, well funded 9-12 school to a much more diverse K-5 in a district that hasn’t been able to fully fund media for some time. It’s a great move, and I’m happy in my work (and the challenges it brings)… But today I visited a neighboring district and all I could really see was that NONE of the books on the shelves was in any way destroyed. It was disheartening. But I’m grateful for this post, because new books ARE important and I’m the one who gets to advocate for my kids to have them. Thank you.
So glad it was helpful to you. Best of luck getting your collection improved – it takes some time!
This was great! I really love the photo. New books for the library and books to own make such an impact. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading!
I totally agree with you that the absolute best way to turn students into readers is to provide them with great books (and I’d also add, to provide the time and space to read them). There’s nothing wrong with doing some fun reading motivation activities, especially to allow some socializing centered around reading, but a great book will tempt a student to read much faster than a free pizza.
I absolutely love this book ❤
One of my favourite children's fiction. Reminds me how it used to be when I was a child, and all that innocence is a little more than tear-jerking.