Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Winter Reading 2014

I'm not sure how many libraries do a Winter Reading program, but we do!  It was initially just for kids, but when I became the teenbrarian I expanded it to teens.  This year the adult librarians have gotten on board as well!

It is nowhere near as big as Summer Reading.  This is a much more chill (groan) program.  Last year the teens talked me into doing a bingo style form, similar to the kid form, but in practice they didn't really like it.   This year I'm back to my favorite style of contest; one hour of reading = one entry into a prize drawing.  I don't care at all what they read, and homework reading totally counts.  I like using a "time" based model, because an hour is an hour whether you read 10 pages or 100 in that time, so everyone is included no matter their reading level.

I pick prizes based on what I notice is popular, and this year it's Doctor Who, Supernatural, and Minecraft.  I also do a few generic prizes--one set of pretty nice art supplies, and a couple of Visa gift cards.


I recognize the wintery font is trying a little too hard, I just really like it!  Last year we had 49 teens participate.  I'm hoping to increase that quite a bit this year, but we'll see! 

3 comments:

  1. Hi! I really love this idea for SRP for teens. Our library has usually always done the reading log by book but I really like logging by hour. Do you think this set up would work well for SRP? Do you allow kids to win more than one prize if their name gets picked more than once? Thanks!

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  2. This is how I do my "Above and Beyond" for teens who finish my SRP early! It would work great as an SRP though! I like it because it's not intimidating to teens who perhaps don't read as well or as fast--they can read whatever they like at whatever pace, an hour is an hour no matter how many pages! I haven't come across that particular problem with drawing the same name twice. I'd probably allow it, unless it was one of my blatant cheaters!

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