Share the love, spread the load

Typically, the library, with the teacher librarian at the helm, is seen as the flagship of Children's Book Week.

But sadly, more and more. this is being watered down, even ignored, as leadership teams make unilateral decisions that that not only impact the activities designed to help promote an understanding of the need to be able to read and foster a love for doing so, but, in some cases, cancel them altogether, despite the annual headlines about poor NAPLAN results especially in relation to reading and official reports showing that as a preferred leisure activity, its popularity is declining.

So as teacher librarians we have a choice... we can turn our backs on Book Week altogether, excusing our lack of involvement by referring to workloads, lack of appreciation, poor support from key players and any other reason that will validate our standpoint or we can look for ways to ensure it is a key fixture on the annual calendar that makes it more than a fancy dress parade.

How can we involve all the stakeholders - pupils, parents, peers, principals, and politicians - so they have ownership of the celebrations and are invested in their success?

Why do we celebrate Children's Book Week?

To enable all students, whatever their situations or circumstances, to feel a connection to the printed word and what it can offer them.
To enrich and enhance students' lives by exposing them to a range of facets of literature and literacy that they might not normally have access to.
To demonstrate to children that we, as adults value reading and view it as a valid and valuable use of time, regardless of its purpose.
To consolidate children's expectations that they too, can be writers and readers., and to continue their enjoyment of writing and reading once they have become independent. so they are encouraged to be lifelong readers so they have the skills to navigate and negotiate their later lives.
To encourage children to investigate new topics. genres, authors, series and information through exploring the Book Week theme.
To engage parents, carers and the community in sharing conversations with their children about stories and reading.
To show students that reading can be so much more than "an activity imposed by adults to achieve an ulterior goal such as an improved grade". (Miller, D. (2009). The Book Whisperer. Jossey-Bass. )
To further develop students' literacy skills as they engage with authors, illustrators, activities and displays during the course of events.
To further develop students' creative and critical thinking skills as they engage with activities and displays during the course of events.
To develop our own professional knowledge. expertise and experience as we engage with other teacher librarians to discover new and tried-and-true ways to continue promoting literacy within our schools with both staff and students.
To continue to develop, manage and maintain a collection that is relevant to our students by our exposure to new authors, titles, series, opportunities and events.

Why should we share the love and spread the load?

Apart from the obvious benefits of getting new ideas and lightening the workload, there are many other benefits to sharing the love such as

Building relationships within the school and beyond its boundaries
Opening opportunities for those with particular talents to shine and share in their children's education
Giving stakeholders a sense of ownership so they are invested in the success of the event
Supporting the teaching and learning of literacy across the school and the across the curriculum by providing authentic and purposeful tasks to fulfil.
Offering leadership roles and the opportunity to contribute to school life to students so those who may not shine in other endeavours have a chance to do so
Providing staff, students and the parent body opportunities to share their particular talents and interests to further the common good.
Demonstrating that the development of literacy can take many forms as they get an insight into what goes on in schools beyond formal instruction
Educating and advocating for the role of the teacher librarian and why schools need well-resourced school libraries led by qualified staff

How can we spread the load?

Often, as soon as the theme is announced the ideas start to flow so establish a committee that comprises pupils, peers and parents with an interest in making next year's event a world of wonder and words for the students.
As the teacher librarian, maintain the leadership role but be willing to delegate tasks, drawing on the particular experience, expertise and interests of committee members.
Ensure all members have identified responsibilities so they are invested in the overall success of the event.
Establish a timetable of meetings and things that need to be done, as well as ways to celebrate milestones. Maintain a record of who is to do what and when that can be drawn on in future years.
Keep the principal and executive in the loop so there are fewer chances of other events clashing or activities being cancelled.
As early as possible alert the media and local politicians to any special events that are planned so they can attend if available, see the joy on the children's faces and better understand how teaching literacy is alive and well in your school.
Plan a celebration to acknowledge everyone's efforts and the success of the event.
Consider establishing a Student Committee to undertake a lot of the in-school preparation with two of its members being representatives on the main committee.

Who could do what?

Pupils

When the theme is announced - usually the Friday after Book Week concludes - invite students to submit sketches of displays they could design to support it, encouraging them to indulge a no-limits approach and including props that would be needed, how/where these could be sourced and appropriate fiction and non fiction that could be used to encourage others to explore and extend their own reading. The Student Committee could then decide which to proceed with considering factors such as
- - applicability and practicality
  - space available
  - cost
  - the availability of the designer to oversee its development the following year

This concept could also be extended to embrace a challenge to build a diorama that encapsulates the theme using whatever medium the designer chooses, such as Lego, model-making, toys and so on.

The committee could devise, conduct and collate a survey of the rest of the student body to determine which have been the favourite activities in past years so that these might be repeated and planning begun where necessary, including developing a timeline of what needs to be done when and who will be responsible..
As part of learning to use the OPAC and locate resources on the shelves, students could use the Notables list to male a display of these so early reading can begin. For those titles not held in the collection, they could read reviews to determine their suitability for inclusion and then investigate and compare sources to acquire them.
Those who are interested could prepare to participate in the Shadow Judging.
Students could take a leadership role in planning and preparing for a visit by an author , undertaking many of the tasks outlined including inviting other schools if appropriate and hosting a Literary Luncheon.
Those with a flair for marketing could take charge of promotion of Book Week as well as any special events
Once the theme is known, students could suggest appropriate books to support it and start to make a list to accompany a student-designed display.

Peers

Seek interest from those on staff (regardless of position) who are interested in being actively involved in the preparation even if they are unable/unwilling to be on the actual committee.
Seek suggestions from staff about organising the week so clashes are kept to a minimum. Gather and note feedback about past events so successes can be repeated and failures avoided.
Look for ways the theme can embrace other faculties -for example, the 2026 theme of A Symphony of Stories suggest bringing in the music department, the school choir or band.
Demonstrate how the TL can add value to teaching and learning by Collaborating with lesson planning. For example while the classroom teacher might extend vocabulary by exploring words such as symphony, concerto, and other music-related terms, the TL could show students how to use a dictionary including alphabetical order, how focus words are broken into syllables to make pronunciation easier; the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet which is used by linguists to accurately represent the wide variety of sounds (phonemes) in human speech; and how to identify the meaning based on the context in which the word is used. This could then extend to using a thesaurus as well as exploring the meanings and origins of common musical terminology such as legato and staccato.
Seek ideas for activities that each is willing to host focusing on the key outcomes of promoting books and fostering free voluntary reading.
If there is a particular job that needs doing, directly approach a person with the appropriate expertise to seek their help, giving them as much lead time as possible.
If there is to be a parade, discuss the issues like format. theme, costumes addressed on this page. If staff are to dress alike, decide the focus early.
If staff put on a Readers' Theatre, play or other item form a team to lead this early.
At the end of Book Week acknowledge the efforts they have made , the time they have contributed and so forth so they feel valued and more likely to help in the future.

Parents

After the theme has been announced, invite parents to a meeting to share their ideas, suggestions and connections that might enhance the celebrations. it's surprising who knows who or what that can add something memorable or unique. Encourage parents to form a sub-committee with representatives to be at main committee meetings to report progress and liaise with the TL.
If a Book Fair is a customary correlation of Book Week, investigate if parents will assume responsibility for organising, promoting and running it.
Investigate if there are any parents who might offer a lunchtime storytime sharing stories from their ethnic/cultural background in their own language so students with other languages are included as well as seeing that their heritage is valued.
Use your parent communication channels to keep parents regularly reminded and informed of what's coming up, as well as any other information such as ideas for costumes, Book Fair procedures and so forth.

Principals

Keep principals in the loop from the get-go and have regular meetings to discuss progress. Be enthusiastic and share how the whole community is getting involved.
Invite the principal to be directly involved and identify how that might be done.
Demonstrate the TL's leadership capabilities so they become more informed of the scope and responsibilities of the role.
Identify how various events and activities are promoting teaching and learning of literacy within the school, and the school itself beyond the boundaries.
Provide a timetable of events and meetings to demonstrate your professionalism.
Even though it may be tedious and unnecessary, ensure any required paperwork is completed and submitted on time if not in advance.
Provide a final report of the event which includes successes, failures, things to be repeated or reviewed in the future and so forth with an executive summary that can be presented to the school board or governing body as required, demonstrating the value of the event to students' attitudes and learning as well as general public relatiions.