UW–Madison center hosts statewide online book club

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison will assume an administrative role of Read On Wisconsin, the statewide online book club for Wisconsin students and educators now in its seventh year.

Read On Wisconsin features recommended books each month for students at five different age levels. The book club’s new website will allow students and teachers from around the state to find out more about the month’s selections by linking to information about the books and their creators through resources from TeachingBooks.net. Beginning in early 2012, the site will also feature student-created book trailers for the selected books.

First launched in 2004, the program has proven popular with both students and educators.

“Our teens love the Read On Wisconsin program. The list of books is terrific, and our students really enjoy sharing their thoughts and ideas with others around the state. When kids ask me what to read next, I often send them to the Read On site,” says Pam Gardow, library media specialist at Memorial High School in Eau Claire, Wis.

To administer the book club, staff members at the CCBC, are collaborating with colleagues in the School of Education’s Media, Education Resources and Information Technology unit; the Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning of the Department of Public Instruction; and TeachingBooks.net. An advisory committee of teachers, librarians, and students from around the state also help to make book selections.

“At our middle school, we count on Read On Wisconsin as a source for outstanding book recommendations,” says Laura Holt, advisory committee member and library media specialist at Cherokee Middle School in Madison.

“Teachers and students look forward to the new reading lists and discussion questions that appear each month. We’ve been introduced to some first-rate Wisconsin authors, and have had fun taking part in the statewide conversation about books.”

Read On Wisconsin’s featured books for September are:

• Preschool: “Always in Trouble” by Corinne Demas;
• Grades K–2: “How Rocket Learned to Read” by Tad Hills; “City Dog, Country Frog” by Mo Willems;
• Grades 3–5: “The Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians” by Jarrett T. Krosoczka;
• Middle school: “The Ninth Ward” by Jewell Parker Rhodes;
• High school: “Lockdown” by Walter Dean Myers.

 

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center is a non-circulating library for adults with a professional, career or academic interest in children’s and young adult literature. The CCBC is jointly funded by the School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the Division for Libraries, Technology and Community Learning, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

— Ashley Voss