Read It Forward

With this practical guide, it's easy to implement the proven fun—and learning—of a read-it-forward program in your middle school library. Teens recommend books to other teens, offering a surefire way to promote books and reading.

Finding the right book for each student is almost impossible if you serve several hundred students, as most school librarians do. Read It Forward offers an innovative way around that problem: a program that lets librarians saturate the school with a title that encourages middle school students to read for pleasure. As an added bonus, Read It Forward (RIF) creates learning opportunities that can be leveraged across the curriculum.

The program presented here is based on the author's experience with a community RIF project that was a collaborative effort among nine middle school librarians from schools with varying needs and socioeconomic levels. This thoroughly practical book takes librarians through the process step by step, offering specific examples of what worked and what didn't, then showing how the process can be extended to almost any book. The author also discusses other aspects of running a successful RIF program—such as getting buy-in from school administrators, the PTA, and department chairs—so that parents and teachers can collaborate in the experience.