Thursday 5 January 2017

More Books Please by Savita Kalhan

Happy New Year!

Last year I did my usual reading challenge. It used to be to read 55 books, but for 2016 I decided to up it to 60 books. As usual, the mix of books I've read range from middle grade to teen to young adult to adult, and they include a vast range of genres.


I read the middle grade and teen books for the library reading group that I run in Finchley Church End library, which now also includes some pre-teens as well as 13 to 15 year olds. Here are a few of our favourite reads for 2016. These books made the kids laugh, cry, hold their breath, or cheer. They have held them captive and made them seek out the authors so they can read more by them.











Some of the older teens in the group are now interested in reading young adult books, but I remember when they first started, just under two years ago, when all they wanted to read were older middle grade and young teen books. Some of them only managed to read a book a month then. Now they're are all taking up to four books a month to read for the reading group. It has been so satisfying to see the kids' reading habits develop and their love of reading increasing month by month.

The only thing that's holding us back is the budget for teen books. I'm sure the problem is the same for all libraries. I would love for my group to have more choice available to them. 

So if there are any publishers out there who would like their teen books read and reviewed by a teen reading group and would like to donate some books in exchange, or would just like to donate teen books, then please feel free to get in touch with us!



Savita's WEBSITE


5 comments:

Heather Dyer said...

Have you tried circulating a guide to YA books like The Ultimate Book Guide and then getting the teens to order their book choice from their local branch? I only ever order books from the library online now, and they arrive quickly and I get a text or email when they're ready to pick up. Such a great service.

Savita Kalhan said...

Heather, the library has been very helpful - I give the library the book choices and they get as many copies of the books as they can from all the libraries in the borough for the teen reading group. I usually need about up to ten or eleven copies of each book for the group. We need to read at least a few of the same books in the group, so we can discuss them. The problem is that the choice available has become more limited due to cuts in the budget.

Miriam Halahmy said...

It's wonderful how they are all reading FOUR times more boOKs because of your brilliant initiative. Thanks so much for the heads up for the Zoo and may you go from strength to strength.

Savita Kalhan said...

Thanks, Miriam!

By the way, are there any more up-to-date book guides that anyone knows of? The Ultimate Book Guide was published in 2010. I would love to have a comprehensive guide for teen and middle grade books.

Miriam Halahmy said...

It's wonderful how they are all reading FOUR times more boOKs because of your brilliant initiative. Thanks so much for the heads up for the Zoo and may you go from strength to strength.