Maine Student Book Award at SMES and SMMS Libraries

Post date: Jan 18, 2017 5:40:35 PM

Spruce Mountain Elementary and Middle School Libraries had fun this fall rolling out the Maine Student Book Award (MSBA) nominees with their students. Before the classes visited, the libraries set up enticing displays of the books and created sticker sheets from old spine labels with cover art from each of the books. High school library aides helped make the stickers and MSBA bookmarks for all students in grades 4-8.

Each library set up book preview tables, and students visited each table for 5 minutes to find MSBA books they might want to read. If a book looked good, students could take a sticker of the cover and place it on their bookmark. Students left with a great idea of which MSBA nominees they wanted to read.

Any student who reads 3 of the MSBA nominees is eligible to vote for the award winner. Students from across Maine vote, and the book with the most student votes win. Library staff keep track of student reading on charts in each library. Participation in the program is completely voluntary, but most students are interested and read at least one of the books.

At the middle school, where independent reading is part of the ELA program, students are encouraged to choose current and past MSBA books as their independent reading choices. Many teachers have classroom displays to promote the books as well as classroom copies of the books for student use. At the elementary school, students are using audiobooks to listen to the first few chapters of several of the titles. If they enjoy the book, they can check out the audio or print copy and continue reading on their own. They also sometimes include MSBA titles in their classrooms.

To find out more about the Maine Student Book Award program, please visit their website at this link.