Shafiya  from Madurai (India) asks

Adolescent children of X,XI and XII classes are not reading.
not even trying,  just talking.
I can’t force them to read.

Book showing

• Dispose books on table
• Dispose no more than 20 books
• Present books in facing
• Some books can be open
• Put some books on display units (already made or you can make some)
• Think about a theme for the presentation table

E.g.: war, trip, love…

• Prepare a little information sheet for each book (selected articles, biographies…)
• Be sure to have enough books in store
• Invite teens to take a look at the books and read the summary
• Remind them to replace after reading
• Bring their attention to the magazines and newspapers

Book reading

• Invite them to read books to smallers
• Stories ordering: explain to the smallers that they can order stories from the elders (e.g.: a scary picture book). Then let the teens search by themselves until they find a book that they judge convenient.

• Prepare a collection of bibliographies “I don’t know what to read” on different themes :

E.g.: Friendship, death, thrillers, the world, solitude…

• Reading club: once a month the group reunites and each member presents a book report. If wanted, the book report can be displayed on a special board. You can name it “best loved” or “recommendations” to attract the attention of other users.

Workshops

E.g.: Books Challenge : Do a selection (about 15 books) on a precise theme (e.g.: an author, especially if he is invited) and challenge the teens to read as much books as possible.

Writing workshops

E.g.: Imagine the continuation of a book after reading its last lines.
E.g.: Poetry. Do an initiation to the art of Haikus (short Japanese poems). Create some and write them on painted pebbles. Note: the 3-6 years old can paint the pebbles.
E.g.: The poems tree : Manufacture a tree (or take an existing branch), paint it colourfully. Cut pieces of papers in form of leaves. Invite teens to write poems on these leaves and fix them on the tree.

Initiation to the use of the library

• How are the different areas organised and signalised?
• How are the books classified?

E.g.: Alphabetical classification, Dewey classification…

Little vocabulary of the library

E.g.: shelf marks, genres, categories…

• Help needed! Offer them to help at the librarian desk and to do the check out. Help the youngest or help for tiding. You can put it in a form of training (if regular, remunerated).

• Dispose books on tables.
• Dispose no more than 20 books.
• Present books in facing
• Some books can be open
• Put some books on display units (already made or you can make some)
• Think about a theme for the presentation table

E.g.: tales, documentaries, fiction, comics

You can add some items to make the whole lively

E.g.:  posters, figurines, quotes…

• Be sure to have enough books in store
• Invite children to take a look at the books and read the summary
• Remind them to replace after reading
• Bring their attention to the magazines and children newspapers

Books reading

At this age, children learn or already know how to read. However they enjoy listening to stories:

E.g.: Tales, novels (extracts), poetry

• Gather them in a group. Sit in front of them, read the book and show the pictures –if any-    from times to times
• The activity can last 30min. You can read several books
• You can use various elements to capture the attention of your audience

E.g.: Music instruments, CDs, gestures…(mostly for the youngest)

It’s good to encourage children to participate.

Note : To allow all these activities to take place, we consider that you already made a good selection of children books.

Books workshops

• Make a difference between children who know how to read and he ones who are still learning
• For the ones who are still learning
• Ludic and educative approach of books through creative activities

E.g.: make a book
E.g.: write a book
E.g.: illustrate a book

Ludic and educative approach trough games with books

E.g.: Book turning: a small selection of books is presented to the children by adults or the ones who already read

Writing workshops :

E.g.: Words sun: each child draws a sun and chooses an alphabet letter (e.g the letter of his name). Secondly he searches in the poetry books words beginning with this letter. Write one word on each ray and illustrate the sun.
 

For the ones who read an write well:

Ludic approach of books through activities

E.g.: Books Challenge : Do a selection (about 15 books) on a precise theme (ex: an author, especially if he is invited) and challenge the children to read as much books as possible

Writing and reading workshops

E.g.: Words haunting: The activity requests two sessions (one hour each)

Don’t forget to expose some !

Guest

• Invite an artist or a writer to talk about or show his work. The guest can also animate a workshop.

Initiation to the use of the library

• How are the different areas organised and signalised ?

E.g.: the Daisy: For the documentaries using Dewey classification, assign one colour for each index. The stickers of the same colour are on the books.

• How are the books classified?

E.g.: Alphabetical classification, Dewey classification…

• Little vocabulary of the library

E.g.: shelf mark, genres, categories…

Comprehension games

E.g.: Find a book by using the shelf mark 
E.g.: Find the hidden shelf mark

• Dispose books on tables easily reachable by children.
• Dispose no more than 20 books.
• Present books in facing
• Some books can be open
• Put some books on display units (already made or you can make some)
• Vary the shape and colours of books.
• Think about a theme for the presentation table

E.g.: picture books, tales, documentaries, ABCs…

You can add some items to make the whole lively

E.g.: origami’s, posters, figurines…

• Be sure to have enough books in store
• Invite children to touch and take a look at the books
• Encourage them to replace them after reading.

Books reading

• One book, one child, one reader. Create an intimate atmosphere.
• Read slowly and vary the intonation of your tone.

E.g.: imitate gently the voice of the monster, the dragon, the fairy…

• You can read to a group : sit in front of them, read the book and show the pictures from times to times.
• The activity can last 15min or more and you can read several books for their concentration increases.
• You can use various elements to capture the attention of your audience.

E.g.: Music instruments, CDs, gestures…

It’s good to encourage children to participate :

E.g.: ask questions like “what is the sound of the cow ?” and appeal to their memory.

Note : To allow all these activities to take place, we consider that you already made a good selection of children books.
Note : Parents can read for their children, take some books for them and encourage them to take some themselves to read it afterwards.

Books touching

• Phase of free exploration: books are MADE for kids and GOOD for kids.
• Teach them how to turn a page carefully, how to hold a book, the way of reading.

Books workshops

• Ludic and educative approach of books through creative activities.

E.g.: how to make a book
E.g.: how to illustrate a tale
E.g.: how to make paper
E.g.: how to make a recipe following a book (or gardening)

• Ludic and educative approach trough games with books

E.g.: Book turning: a small selection of books is presented to the children by adults.
E.g.: Find the intruder: among a selection of books (5 to 10) find the one that doesn’t belong to the principal theme.
E.g: Investigation game: Prepare a selection of picture books. Make photocopies of some characters or objects that appear in the book. Give one to each child and ask him to find the original book.

                                                                                                                                                      
Invite an artist or a writer to talk about or show his work. The guest can also animate a workshop.

• Dispose books on tables easily reachable by children.
• Dispose no more than 20 books.
• Present books in facing
• Vary the shape of books
• Think about a theme for the presentation table

E.g.: only black and white, books of animals, family, the forest.

• Some books can be open
• You can add some items to make the whole lively

E.g.: some little toys, fruits, leaves, mostly bright colours…

• Be sure to have enough books in store
• Invite children to touch and take a look at the books (they are used not to touch, only watch : make them understand it is made for it)
• Don’t worry if it becomes a mess, it is the objective of this activity.

Books Reading

• One book, one child, one reader. Create an intimate atmosphere. Read slowly and vary the intonation of your tone.

E.g. : imitate the voice of the bear, of the father…

• If there is more than one children : sit in front of them, read the book while showing the pictures.
• The activity must stay short (5-10 min) due to the lack of concentration of these little children.
• You can use various elements to capture the attention of your audience.

E.g. : Music instruments, CDs, finger puppets…

Books touching

• Phase of free exploration : books are MADE for kids and GOOD for kids. They can touch, bite, smell, play with them. These books are designed for them : the pages are usually thick, the ankles are round and their size is adapted to their small hands. Some of them are specially designed to be touched, they include different textures (rough, soft, fuzzy…)
• During these activities, make sure to solicit all the senses of children: sight with pictures, hearing with reading out loud and music, touch by manipulating books, smell and taste is up to your imagination!

Note : To allow all these activities to take place, we consider that you already made a good selection of babies books.

In French we use the word “animation”. This word is especially relevant because is means “put warmth, activity and life in something”. It is a way to let the books alive and to see them in another way. The main problem for children now days is that they don’t like and don’t know what to read. They ignore all the potential that books could bring. We need to make them understand that a book is a source of warmth, imagination and window on the world not only paper pages in a store.

It is a cultural mediation between books and children (teens and babies).

Shafiya from Madurai (India) asks :

Now I want all the children to read well. But some of the students(2/3) not at all reading.
They think that library hour is meant for talking (leisure time).I want them to realise that it is to improve themselves.