First year Digital Teacher Librarian, Tanya Jensen, has been collaborating with the Jefferson County Public Library (JCPL) and her English teachers to develop a website that supports summer reading at Standley Lake High School. The website functions like GoodReads, but has been created specifically for students; high schoolers can write reviews and search for titles based on genre and recommendations. In addition, the staff will participate and add their reviews to the website. The school's vision is to grow the site so that it is an easy way for students to locate books of interest, based on peer reviews. Students can also submit suggestions for books they want the library to purchase in the future.
The summer reading program has changed from giving students a list of books they have to choose from, to allowing students the freedom to select any book they want. Students that don’t know which book to choose will now have this peer-generated list of recommended books to guide them. In their English class next fall, with the support of the Digital Teacher Librarian, students will write book summaries and reviews for the website.
The kick off for the summer reading program at SLHS is during during Literacy Week, which falls from April 24th-28th. The JCPL team and Tanya are working together to introduce the students to as many books as possible in a short amount of time through a book speed dating activity. There will be tables based on genre, and the students will peruse the books for five minutes at each table to determine where their interests lie. Students will be provided with bookmarks to jot down interesting books they discovered. If students find a title they want to check out, they will be able to do so through JCPL. On Friday, April 28th, Barnes and Noble will visit the school for a mini book fair, where students will be able to purchase books that match their interests.
The staff is excited about this exciting new website, and they feel this will be a better fit for students to find books that match their interests. The JCPL summer reading program entices teens to read through the summer by awarding an Eliche's 1-day pass to the first 5,000 readers, achieving 8 hours or more. The Jefferson County high school with the most readers will receive an $800 prize.
Speed Dating with Jefferson County Public Library
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