A personal milestone and a new program!

It's been way too long since I last posted!

First of all, I'm pleased to be able to say that I've reached a big milestone - one year as a librarian!  September 10th was the anniversary of my first day on the job.  I love love love this job and career, and I'm so happy that I get to do this for a living!

Secondly, I wanted to talk about a new program that I put together.  It's called 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, and it's based off of programs that many other libraries are doing, with some tweaks to fit our needs.

Basically, the idea is that young children (below kindergarten-age) and their families keep track of the books that the child reads or listens to with the goal of reaching 1000 books before the child starts kindergarten.  Since we know that the more books a child reads/hears before starting school, the better he or she will be ready to learn in school, this is a great way to make that happen!  Any books, from anywhere, count for the program, and books read more than once can be counted more than once.

The way I set up our program is that there are 10 logs with 100 book symbols on each log.  Each time a book is read, the child colors in or crosses out a book symbol on the log.  Once 100 books are read and a log completed, the child turns in the log for a sticker and a new log to begin.  Each of the logs is a different color in a (sort of) rainbow order, so hopefully the kids get excited to see what color comes next.  After completing all 10 logs, the child gets a certificate of completion (a pretty cute one if I do say so myself!) and a free book!

We've had a decent number signed up so far, but hopefully that number just grows and grows.  This is an ongoing program, so we'll continue it and help more young children be ready to start kindergarten. :)