A Day Dedicated To Reading and Connecting

By Marcus Lonshein

May 23, 2024

On February 7th, 2024, communities around the world celebrated World Read Aloud Day. In addition to read-aloud events, dozens of authors also met virtually with students in schools and libraries to read from and inform audiences about their work.

On World Read Aloud Day, schools and libraries listened to some of their favorite authors read from and discuss their books through virtual read-alouds. Some celebrities, including Terry Crews, Kristen Bell, Michelle Yeoh, and Elizabeth Olsen, even promoted the read-alouds. According to LitWorld, the organization behind World Read Aloud Day, the books were read in different languages so communities around the world could listen and learn. 

LitWorld was founded by literacy educator and author Pam Allyn, who visited a very under-resourced area of Kenya and realized the passion of the people there to read and share their stories with the world. Over the years, LitWorld has produced many different projects to promote literacy worldwide. 

Here in Jericho, Ms. Conklin and her team of librarians arranged virtual read-alouds with sixteen different authors throughout the day. According to her, World Read Aloud Day is important because it “is one of the many ways that we promote literacy here at Jericho Middle School.”

  Joshua S. Levy, Matt Faulkner, and Alysa Wishingrad are a few of the authors that met with JMS students. Joshua Levy writes middle school level books including The Jake Show and Finn and Ezra’s Bar Mitzvah Time Loop. Matt Faulkner has been an author of many children's books since 1985. Some of his books include American Prison of War, The Moon Clock, and Black Belt. Alysa Wishingrad writes fantasy books for middle schoolers, and she has written two books so far: Monsters and Marvels and The Verdigris Pawn.

Ms. Conklin hopes that the learning and curiosity around reading and writing books will continue long after WRAD: “I’m hoping that we generate excitement for reading, and usually after World Read Aloud Day, a lot of kids come down [to the library] and want to check out the books. They get to interact with authors and learn how they became authors,” she said. 

Overall, WRAD was fun, interactive, and a great way to motivate reading and learning. “Reading is so important for every subject area and just in life to be able to read and to be able to understand,” Ms. Conklin remarked.