By: Erin Baker, Durham Middle School Library Media Specialist
Building a positive reading culture can only be accomplished in solidarity, and collaboration between the library media specialist and subject-area teachers is a vital component of that objective. There are abundant ways to foster a love of reading in your school; one I have found to be especially impactful is celebrating LitWorld’s annual World Read Aloud Day in February. It presents the ideal occasion to spotlight the importance of global literacy while celebrating the joys of reading together. Durham Middle School in Acworth, GA has seized this opportunity for several years. Initially, DMS hosted an in-person World Read Aloud Day event in its theater where sixth-grade students gathered during their reading blocks to hear a host of readers including teachers, administrators, and the library staff read the first chapters from some of their favorite books. In 2020 and 2021, Covid-19 restrictions dismantled the previous in-person event, but Durham reading teachers Patti Slade, Caroline Dean, and I knew the impact of this event was too great to let it go, so we pivoted and created a Flipgrid in place of assembling in mass. Educators from our school and feeder schools were invited to post videos of themselves reading books they love. Several students even joined in on the fun by posting their own recorded readings. It was a communal collaboration at its finest. Over the past couple of years, in lieu of a large theater gathering, the Flipgrid has continued to be utilized, and readers have also visited classrooms. Our participation is officially registered with LitWorld.org each year, and we advertise to the school and community via posters, a bulletin board, our website, Twitter, and on the school’s morning broadcast. To learn more about World Read Aloud Day and to begin planning your own reading celebration, check out the free resources from Scholastic and LitWorld and start planning today—it is never too early.
