Bookworms - Student Book Reviews
Bookworms - Student Book Reviews
Contributed by Carmen Moser, Southridge Senior School
Students recommending books to other students is perhaps the most effect endorsement of any text. This is hardly earth shattering news, and indeed, many of you are probably rolling your eyes thinking, “Tell me something I don’t know.” But, understanding this and being able to harness it are completely different. While students will sometimes talk to those in their close circle about what they’re reading, the discussion generally does not extend beyond that crowd. The birth of the Bookworms program at the Southridge Senior Library originates from a desire to encourage students to be able to share recommendations beyond just their friend group.
In the Alderdice Library, our catalogue (Follett Destiny) has the capacity to post student reviews. This is a vastly underused component of the program, and something I wanted to encourage. Yet, I wasn’t satisfied with students merely posting a star rating out of five (the first reviewable option) followed by, “It was good” in the comments section. I spoke to students and parent volunteers about the teen book reviewers in the Surrey Public Library system in order to mirror some of the elements that had made that program a success.
Most importantly, students needed to have an incentive. As I was asking them to complete fairly comprehensive reviews (both a long version to be posted on the catalogue, and a short version to aid with in house marketing) there needed to be a reward that reflected the work they were producing. The public libraries offered a volunteer hour for their reviews, so to compete, I offered two service hours for each review posted and approved. Furthermore, students in our club also get first dibs on any new books that come into the library, so they can read and review books before they’re even out for general circulation. By having these perks as part of the program, there is a tangible benefit to the commitment of writing and posting the reviews.
As the reviews exist primarily online via the catalogue, I wanted to be able to promote the work of the Bookworms in our physical space. To that end, each book that has a review posted online also has a sticker on the physical book. We also have an area where some of the books are displayed. Finally, I use shelf-talkers to display the short reviews. Using a variety of ways to show that a book has been read and reviewed has encouraged students in the library to take a closer look at those titles.
As the program is still young, advertising it to students is crucial if it is going to grow and achieve its purpose: students promoting books to students. Currently there are bookmarks and posters throughout the school. Students are also shoulder-tapped, and the club is mentioned in all of the book talks for the English classes. Going forward, I’m looking at some swag for prolific reviewers, in addition to having an ambassador make mention of the program at assemblies. While the group is purely online right now, optional meetings to talk about books with other bibliophiles might also be a good way to build momentum.
Overall, the Bookworms program has been a successful way to have students promote books to one another and I’m excited at the possibilities going forward.
Sounds like you have some great ideas and some fantastic initial success. I'd love to hear how this programme unfolds. We have also looked at getting students to write book reviews and record book trailers, but incentive is the struggle that we had too.
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