Top 10 Most Read Books in the World? You Decide

This graph was posted by Better World Books on their Facebook page earlier today.  I find it interesting that only one children's book made the list and that was Harry Potter.

What does this say about publishing and book buying?  The Twilight Saga and Anne Frank:  Diary of a Young Girl, which are considered by many to be Young Adult titles also appear as does cross-over series The Lord of the Rings.  Does this indicate that readers under the age of 18 are the consumers of 40% of the top 10? 

I don't ever put too much stock in graphics like these, but I do know they travel through social networking sites and are shared by many and are taken at face value.  How many take a look at this and believe that Harry Potter is the 3rd most read book in the world?   I think many people would agree about the top pick, but beyond that, the graph is left to a great deal of interpretation. 

Just an aside, I wasn't able to check out the source used for the graph, just thought it was interesting to share. 

The caption with it when it appear on Facebook said, "What would be on your Top 10 Book List?" Now that is something worth some consideration!

Shared by Better World Books via Facebook February 25,2013

Family Read-Aloud Night -- Beatrice Doesn't Want To

I found this on the Scholastic Book Fair page.  It is a plan for a Family Read-Aloud Night designed to be a part of a book fair.  This is a great plan to use in this matter, as a kick-off to a new storytime session or just when you want to get parents into your library or school.

When I  plan activities like these, I always include a tour of the library.  I also believe that sometimes the lure of refreshments will bring out folks who might pass otherwise.  Finally, make time for sharing an elevator speech of library borrowing policies and encourage parents to sign up for library cards for themselves and their children.

Ideally, an event like this would contain 10 to 15 minutes where the children were doing a craft or enjoying a snack with another staff member while you spoke with the adults.  This is a great time to talk about how to select books to read with your children, share some popular or favorite titles, announce other events, and answer questions.

Click here to open the PDF of the plan.  Also, Scholastic has a host of other great ideas on their bookfair chairperson's website including several other Family Read-Aloud Night plans for books like I Wanna Iguana and Super Fly Guy.  Check out the cool printable bookmarks which would be handy to copy and have available at your circulation desk. 

Consider hosting a family reading night.  It is a great way to talk to the adults of the young people you serve as well as offer some great reading tips.  Parents appreciate your suggestions and assistance, but are not always comfortable asking for them.

Books about Libraries -- Storytime Plan

I love books about books!  Each September, I would begin the fall storytime session with books about books.  There are tons of great stories about books, libraries and reading. 

Here is an EXAMPLE of a storytime framework I might use.  Generally, I gather all the materials together a week or two in advance.  A day or two before storytime, I take the items and stack them in order I plane to use them.  I often place a sticky note on the back of the book as to the next activity or place the books and activities in order on the "teacher's table".  Finally, I always pull more books than I could possibly read.  It gives me the opportunity to chose according to my mood and to take the temperature of my audience.

Please feel free to use the plan and modify it to fit your library needs.

 Storytime Week:  #1
 Date of Program:  Tuesday 9-10-13 & Thursday 9-12-13     Time: 10:00 a.m.
 Title of Program:   Libraries and Books

Ages:  3-5 years

Length:  30-45 mins.

Book titles and Authors:
Beatrice Doesn't Want to -- Numeroff, Laura Joffe
Dinosaur vs. the Library -- Shea, Bob
D.W.'s Library Card -- Brown, Marc Tolan
Lola at the Library -- McQuinn, Anna
Maisy Goes to the Library -- Cousins, Lucy

 Activities:

 Draw and Tell:
"It's Time for Storytime" --  Lee, A. from Even More Draw and Tell Stories
 Game/Chant:
READ letters on clothes.  As we place the letters on the clothes line, I would introduce the letter with beginning sounds.  Encourage the children to repeat the letter as it is pinned up.  Eventually, the children are chanting R-E-A-D with me.
 Songs: 
"Five Little Monkeys" -- P-Nut Emanem from CD Mother Goose Rocks Volume
"Shake My Sillies Out" -- Raffi from CD More Singable Songs

 Craft:
 My Letter
    materials:
    1- 9 x 11 construction paper capital letter for each title (the first letter of each child's first name)
    marker
    stickers
    cardboard for base to color on 

Special Equipment:
CD player
Cricut machine for cutting out letters prior to storytime
Dry erase board and marker
Clothes line with 4 clothes pins and four letter cards R - E - A - D

 Realia or Props:  
Giant Library Card
D.W. Doll
backpack and hat

Take Home Activity:
How to care for books activity sheet from Mr. Wiggle's Book -- McGraw Hill

 Refreshments (take home):
dinosaur fruit snacks

Stuffed Animal Sleep Over -- Program Idea

Several librarian have shared with me that they would love to do a sleep-over at the Library.  sleep-over events are a great deal of fun, but if you are unable to host one, here is an idea that it being used in libraries across the nation as a great alternative.  Host a Stuffed Animal Sleep-Over.  

Encourage children visiting your library to bring a favorite stuffed animal to the library.  Have name tags ready for each animal that can be safety pinned to them.  The name tag should include the animal's name, the name of his owner, and the owner's telephone number, in case the animal would become frightened and need to call home during the night.  Tell the children to return the next morning to enjoy a light breakfast and storytime.

When the kids are gone, stage photo of their animals doing fun things in the Library.  Photos of them looking for books, playing in the storytime corner, writing on the wipe board or at the coloring or puzzle table.  Make sure some of the photos are at night.  Make a slide or a display board of the photos for the event the following morning.  Make sure you stage a couple photos of you reading and doing things with the animals as well. 

As the children arrive the next morning, return their animals to them with a "souvenir photo" or certificate for them to take home.  Share a short storytime with donuts or dry cereal mix.  The sleep-over is a good summer activity or a Friday night event.  Kids can drop off their animals before closing and join the library lady for breakfast the following morning.

Great books to share at breakfast include:

When the Library Lights Go Out

• Author(s):  Megan McDonald
• Illustrator(s):  Katherine Tillotson
• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
• Paperback: 40 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (May 5, 2009)
• ISBN-13: 978-1416980285

Good Night Harry

• Author(s):  Kim Lewis
• Illustrator(s):  Kim Lewis
• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1 edition (January 5, 2004)
• ISBN-13: 978-0763622060

                      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Take a look the photos and some possible fun things to do with the animal friends.First of all, I must confess, the photos were all taken in home.  We are in the middle of the "Blizzard of Oz" and I have not been at work for several days.  I apologize that the photos lack the "library-ness" that you would expect, but I think you can get a good idea.

The Hungry Caterpillar turned pages at storytime

Mouse sharing David McPhail's Animals A to Z

Of course, lots of time was spent reading

Books, books, so many books

What will I read next?

The friends took turns playing with the Wii

Junie B. Jones led the crowd in song!

The friends took turns playing on the computer

There was even time for play with Maggie the Library Cat!

After a bed-time snack, it was finally time for bed

One more story...then ZZZZ!

This is an easy program to put together.  Doesn't cost much and can be done at school or at a public library.  The more creative you are with the photos, the more fun it will be for the children.

After a long night...it's time to hit the hay!   

Storytime Teaser Box

A couple years ago, I was trying to renew some interest in storytime.  After the school district added all-day kindergarten, we lost a few storytime families.  It seems like there was more competition with the local recreation department and the arts council offering programs for preschoolers at the same time as storytime.  I made several adjustments to our schedule, increased the number of outreach and off-site storytimes we were presenting and I started keeping a storytime teaser box at the children's service and/or circulation desk.  

The box was created for those already visiting the library so they would have a hint to what would be the next storytime theme.  We used the box at the end of each storytime where children passed it around and guessed about the next week.  The box was placed at kid height in the main part of the library the rest of the time.

  

There is little or no cost to creating the storytime teaser box.  A clear plastic box  that can be opened and closed easily is essential.   (I used packaging left over from a heating pad)  The box in the photo is about 10 inches long, 5 inches high, and 6 inches wide.   

To create a box, determine the theme for the next storytime and look around your home or the library for a few items that would give good hints.  Children's toys are great for this and I find quite a few in lost and found.  Ideally the items would be unbreakable as they will get shifted around as kid's look at the box.  I generally include 5-9 items.

You guessed it, this box if for Food Week.  (FYI-the egg is wooden)  A few stories I might consider for the week include:

Pizza at Sally's

• Author(s):  Monica Wellington
• Illustrator(s):  Monica Wellington 
• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; First Edition first Printing edition (June 1, 2006)
• ISBN-13: 978-0525477150

Gregory the Terrible Eater

• Author(s):  Mitchell Sharmat
• Illustrator(s):  Jose Arugeo, Ariane Dewey
• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; 1 edition (October 1, 2009)
• ISBN-13: 978-0545129312

Rabbit Food

• Author(s):  Susanna Gretz
• Illustrator(s):  Susanna Gretz
• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (March 1, 2001)
• ISBN-13: 978-0763612931

Grumble Rumble

• Author(s):  Siobhan Dodds
• Illustrator(s):   Siobhan Dodds
• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: DK Preschool (September 1, 2000)
• ISBN-13: 978-0789456243

Lunch!

• Author(s):  Denise Fleming
• Illustrator(s):  Denise Fleming
• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Square Fish; Reprint edition (April 15, 1996)
• ISBN-13: 978-0805046465

 Happy Storytime!
       ~Miss Patty, the Library Lady

I Don't Have a Library Degree -- Conintuing Education

If you don't have a library degree, you are not alone.  Many people working in Kansas libraries do not have formal college training in library science.  Luckily, Kansas offers wonderful support to library workers through the State Library and the seven regional Library Systems.

Here at the Central Kansas Library System, Chris Rippel puts together a comprehensive list of continuing education opportunities offered at a free or reduced cost to library staff members. Workshops and one-on-one training are available for learning skills in adding records to the online catalog, using Excel, or working with your Library Board.  Check out the great offerings on the CKLS homepage.  You will find a link for easy, convenient online registration. 


Every February and March, the regional systems present the Summer Reading Workshop.  This year we will "Dig Into Reading" and take our patrons "Beneath The Surface" with some "Groudbreaking Reads". The CKLS Workshop will be held at the headquarters in Great Bend on Friday, March 29th. Lunch will be a baked potato bar at a cost of $7.50 per person.   Register by March 20th to be included in the fun.



In addition to system workshops, there are a host of free opportunities for learning at your desktop.   Every month the State Library creates a list of Continuing Education classes and webinars.  Click here to visit the list of opportunities.   You may also want to check out the webcasts offered by Booklist and Library Journal.  Many of the webinars are free and are archived for your watch at your convenience. 

 A few events scheduled for next month might be worth a closer look.

• Promoting Literacy with 21st Century Tools presented by ScholasticLibrary Publishing and Rosen Digital on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.

Register today!

• New Graphic Novels for Libraries and Classrooms Panel Discussion presented by Abdo Publishing, Kids Can Press, and Viz Media on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.

Register here!

• Youth Literature Announcements: Spring 2013 presented by Holiday House, Zondervan, and Sleeping Bear Press on Friday, March 15, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.

Register now!

You can learn a great deal about what books to buy, how to plan events and programs, and the best ways to serve your patrons. It as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Snowmen at Night

Here we "Snow" again.  Bracing for round two in Central Kansas.  One more of my favorite snow stories, Snowmen at Night by Carolyn & Mark Buehner.
Read here by a little boy, with a little help from his Dad.  A delightful video!  Enjoy!
A video like this would be easy to produce and share with your patrons when storytime is cancelled due to snow!
Happy Sledding