It’s almost that time again … Time to welcome our students back into our libraries, back to our shelves, back to our books!! I am sure that librarians everywhere are readying their proverbial bag of tricks; you know, that one we use to teach our kiddos about library book care.
BUT, as many of you are, I am always looking for new ways to teach book care. I need to shake things up a bit from year to year. So, as any good standing librarian would, I set to scouring the Internet and researching for resources to help a girl out. I stumbled upon several interesting ideas. I also discovered that there are tons of innovative and energetic librarians out there!!
(1) Read a book … of course!!
I ALWAYS start my library time with a story. For me, books and libraries ALWAYS go hand in hand!! My kiddos know that, regardless of that day’s lesson, there will be story time! Luckily, there are a number of great books out there about book care. Here are a few of my favorites. Just a note that a few of these titles are currently out of print and nearly impossible to snag for a decent price. I was very glad that I grabbed a copy of Mr. Wiggle’s Book before it became ridiculously priced!
(2) Use an actual bag (or box) full of objects … No! No! Never!
I actually have a REAL bag of tricks! It’s my daughter’s old battered purple book bag, and it is full of objects that should remind students of a book care rule: a dog’s leash, a baby bottle, a box of crayons, an empty pudding cup, a water bottle, and a plastic bag.
In my introductory book care lesson, I encourage my firsties to be brave and stick their hands deep into my bag. As their arm goes in, I may pretend that the book bag is eating their arm and that they should avoid the slithering snake inside. Hey, it keeps things interesting! As they safely pull out their object, together we review the book rule that goes along with that object. For example. the dog leash reminds us to keep our books in a safe place away from our animal friends; the pudding cup reminds us that we should NOT snack while looking at our library book.
Some librarians do something quite similar, but they call their bag or box, the “No! No! Never” bag. If you don’t have actual items, you could also do a sorting activity with pictures of the objects.
(3) The Book Baby Bit
Grab yourself a baby doll and a book with a diaper on! Bonus points if the book with a diaper is a book that complements a book care discussion. Goofy … absolutely! But, the littles will think it’s hilarious. The older ones … not so much!
Talk about caring for a baby. What would you do with a baby? What wouldn’t you do with a baby? Would you leave a baby in a car, or let a baby play with sharp scissors, or write all over a baby’s face with markers or glue. Explain that obviously, books aren’t babies but all of our books are like babies and they need to be taken care of!
Then remove the diaper and read the story. Hope this helps!
(4) Use a video to initiate or review book care rules
These videos may be a few years old, but The Pigeon and Mr. Ginger are timeless. Both are under five minutes, so you can easily find the time to include them in any book care lesson.
For the older kids, you can’t go wrong with BYU’s series on book care. Each video is just a few minutes long … and each one STILL makes me laugh every time!
(5) Show examples of popular books that HAVE been damaged
Save those copies of books that have been returned to the library and are damaged. Show them examples of some popular damaged books to remind them what happens when books aren’t treated well. There will be a great deal of gasping when they see some of their favorite books that can no longer be on the shelf. Books that have already been chewed up by dogs and received water damage will really drive home the point!!
Or … you can actually shock them by doing all of the “No Nos” to an actual book that you have already discarded. Their shock as you rip, tear, draw in, waterlog will not be forgotten anytime soon!
(6) Go digital and use an interactive presentation
Using your Interactive Whiteboard is another option for teaching book care. However, I think that it’s very important that the board is the vehicle for teaching the lesson, not the whole lesson itself! There are several free options online … search for Animals Should Definitely Not Borrow Library Books.
I also have two interactive presentations in my TpT Store that could make your life a whole lot easier and your book care lessons downright fun.
Books ARRR Our Treasure ~ The presentation will guide you step-by-step through a book care activity that will keep your little scallywags from falling asleep. The students will be presented with ten different scenarios of students caring for, or not caring for, their books. If it is a positive behavior, students will yell out “Aye”. If it is a negative behavior, students will yell out “Avast.”
Really engage your first and second graders and some eye patches out of black craft foam and rubber bands. As they came into the library for the first time, distribute them and let them wear it for the lesson.
Can it get any better than wearing an eye patch AND yelling in the library? I think not!
Books Color Your World ~ Students will be lead through ten different book care scenarios. Each scenario has a “No Way” splat or “a “Yes Yes” splat that students need to choose in response to whether the book habits are good ones or poor ones. My student are going to respond by painting over the correct splat with a paintbrush {to keep with the Art theme}. A correct choice brings them to a Congrats slide, and an incorrect choice brings them to a Really? Slide that reinforces the concept with the correct book care behavior.
Let’s help each other get our Back to the Library Groove on.
Need more resources to get your new school year started? Maybe one or two of these will help!
