School librarians support reading literacy throughout Berks
Librarians encourage reading comprehension through Reading Olympics
Berks County school librarians are once again actively reaching out throughout the county promoting access and literacy, working within their local school librarian association.
Our annual book drive/ campaign through Follett’s TitleWish is up and running. This year we are fortunate to be able to expend our effort in supporting two Reading elementary school libraries. If you are interested in supporting us with raising funds for our inner-city school libraries, you may do so by accessing the following links: 10th and Green at http://www.titlewish. com/1091621 and 10th and Penn at http://www.titlewish.com/1091632.
Another annual county event, sponsored by the Berks County School Librarians’ Associations, is the Reading Olympics. The Reading Olympics is very similar to a quiz bowl competition, in that students read from a librarian pre-selected list of 45 titles. Students work together on a team of 8-12 students, answering questions pertaining to those titles. Teamwork and comprehension skills are highlighted for the top scoring school team.
This annual elementary event, consisting of 4th and 5th graders, began in 2015, spearheaded by Jennifer Yetter, English teacher at Wyomissing School District. There will be 37 teams from 11 Berks County schools participating in this year’s elementary Reading Olympics hosted at Brandywine Heights Intermediate School on May 2.
Our high school Reading Olympics event is scheduled for April 25. This is the fourth year that Berks County high school readers in grades 9-12 are preparing and competing in this worthwhile reading event at the Berks County Intermediate Unit. Kutztown School District school librarian Brenda Boyer graciously pulled this high school level event together in 2014.
The middle school Reading Olympics has been occurring since 1999. Thanks to the dedication of Carol Simonetti, the school librarian from Northeast Middle School in Reading, who pulled this reading event together for the first time for our Berks County middle schoolers. The 2018 middle school Reading Olympics is scheduled for May 10 at Muhlenberg Middle School. Students from grades 6-8 will compete with over 30 teams from 11 Berks County schools this year.
The Berks County School Librarian Association eagerly reaches across the county to promote the love of reading and strives to raise funds along with awareness of the importance of equitable access to reading material for all our community members.