Just last week, I shared a similar thought with a fellow librarian. Our job is to connect students with books they'll love. However, the deeper challenge is whether authors and publishers are writing for readers' interests or simply their own, hoping the audience will follow.

The same thing happened to me. I’ve rediscovered my love for reading. Now it’s more audiobooks and different genres than I previously preferred 5-10 years ago.

This was the beauty of reading when I grew up. No one was using a company’s reading yardstick or some standardized test metrics to limit and stifle me to a range of books with a number or sticker on the spine.

Exactly. I tell students & educators that reading is like clothes shopping. Everything will not fit your style. Then there will be times when you come across something you normally would not like, but upon trying it out, you discover it’s totally you! Select - try it out/on - like/abandon - REPEAT!

Yes!!!!! This!!!! As a former ELA teacher and current library administrator, I want people, especially educators, to stop book-shaming students for the books THEY select to read for pleasure and enjoyment and then complain when students stop and no longer want to read.

Being asked by the PE teacher to assist with their roller skating unit is still ranked as one of my top career highlights. The icing on the cake was joining them in the gym for the culminating roller skating day. We all had a ball rolling around the gym.

I always love collaborating with our Specials/Connections teachers. It’s truly a game changer. Plus these classes are often more connected to students’ varied interests and are easy to make real-world “connections”.