Book groups for kids and teens are back at the Longmont Public Library — spring break style. At the end of the month, students in second and third, as well as sixth through eighth grades will be able to participate in virtual book club discussions and craft making.
“We’ve been trying various ways to engage kids virtually during the pandemic and also through our curbside services we’ve been doing a lot of craft kits and stuff that people can pick up, but we haven’t really tried the book club for quite a while at the library in general,” Claire Studholme, head supervisor of the Children’s and Teens’ Department at the Longmont Public Library, said.
A 2018 Scholastic study found that 58% of children ages 6 to 17 “love/like reading books for fun,” while 52% “think it is extremely/very important to read books for fun,” up from 51% and 46% respectively in 2014.
After requests from the community and many inquiries about book clubs for younger ages, librarians decided to create the library’s first children’s book club program and bring back, after a three-year hiatus, a teen club, both of which can be enjoyed from the comfort of home.
“Right now (these book clubs) are designed to be one-time (events) over spring break … but if we get a good turnout and there’s a lot of interest, we’re hoping to turn it into a regular thing,” Studholme said.
When library staff decided the criteria for the books for each club they knew they wanted to highlight diversity. Accessibility so participants can read and enjoy books at their reading level also was key, Studholme said.
Second and third grade book group participants will read and discuss “Mia Mayhem is a Superhero,” which follows the adventures of Mia Macarooney, an 8-year-old superhero and her cat, Chaos.
“Our ‘Mia Mayhem is a Superhero’ spring break group is an opportunity for a free fun event during a spring break where many are still staying safe at home. It's a chance to connect with other friends that love talking about superheroes and books for fun and not grades,” Stephanie Sterling, children’s and teens’ librarian and group facilitator, said.
Participating in the “Mia Mayhem” reading group also will allow kids the chance to make their own capes, an experience that is part of the craft kit given with the book.
“We chose each of the projects to highlight an aspect of the books that we can discuss together as we work on the craft project, and think it will help deepen understanding of the text and also give kids a good sense of how book groups’ discussion work,” Sterling said.
The 2018 Scholastic study also mentions the “decline by nine,” describing the decrease in reading frequency between ages 8 and 9. Forty percent of children age 8 say they love reading, compared to only 28% by age 9.
Club participants in sixth through eighth grades will read “Snapdragon” by Kat Leyh, which follows Snap’s journey as she discovers and befriends her town’s witch.
“We picked ‘Snapdragon’ because it features a lot of queer characters and there is also a transgender character. It talks about gender a lot in a really accessible way, plus it has a lot of magic and fun,” Studholme said.
A 2017 study from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center found that of 3,700 books received at the center for research, less than 4% had significant LGBTQ+ content.
“My No. 1 priority in picking the books was representation,” Studholme said.
Although the books both feature young girls as their main protagonists, Studholme said boys should not be wary and is actively pushing to change the narrative of gendering books.
An in-depth analysis done by The Guardian found lead characters were 50% more likely to be male than female and that speaking roles being 50% more likely to be male than female in children’s books.
“In the past, a more ‘traditional’ librarian sort of thought of books as boy books and girl books. But really, there’s no such thing as boys’ books and girls' books. We hope that our readers and patrons will expose their little boys to books about girls,” Studholme said.
Young readers wishing to participate must register online. Registration for the “Mia Mayhem” can be found here, while registration for “Snapdragon” can be found here. Once registered, readers can pick up their books and craft kids at the library during spring break, March 22-26..jpg;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)
