In Upshur County, high schoolers find and swap books that keep them reading
By Dawn Miller, Executive Director of Read Aloud West Virginia
For School Library Appreciation Week, Buckhannon-Upshur High School Librarian Angie Westfall put the word out to students each day – there will be free books in the library at the end of the week.
Westfall, a member of the Upshur County Read Aloud chapter board, arranged to have enough books for all 1,000 high schoolers to choose a book to keep.
Back in Charleston, Read Aloud West Virginia Board member Mike Proops and wife Jo Proops, a volunteer, helped prepare and pack books. Becca Revercomb, a retired Kanawha County teacher and a volunteer reader, drove the truckload to Buckhannon.
In advance, Buckhannon-Upshur teachers read some of the books, and were seen doing it. They previewed titles and discussed choices with students. Westfall and her volunteers arranged the merchandise invitingly around the library.
On the day, groups of students, all masked, rotated through the library every 15 minutes to choose a book to keep and to talk about what they enjoy. By the afternoon, 400 books were gone.
“Everyone in the building promotes literacy,” Westfall wrote later. “Pictures of teachers and the books they were reading were put on our closed-circuit TV to add excitement. After the event, students with their choices were also added to the TV lineup.
“Teachers said that it was nice to see so many students reading! They were reading everywhere we looked: under trees, on the sidewalk, at lunch, during silent reading in classes, and in the library.”
The event was part of Read Aloud’s increased effort this year to help students get their hands on books that interest them while school and library access have been disrupted.
One student, tipped off that among the choices would be the title she had been wanting most — The Descendants series by Melissa de la Cruz — was particularly looking forward to the event.
But on the day, she was ill and missed school. She returned the following Monday and got her book.
“She was so excited she didn’t know what to say,” Westfall texted the following week. “She skipped on the way out of the library!”
Students were offered fiction and non-fiction, hardback and paperback, many genres, graphic novels and even a few signed copies. Many of the books were bought through First Book, a non-profit that makes high interest books available to schools and literacy organizations. All were provided by Read Aloud donors.
“Readers are well aware of the cost for books,” Westfall wrote. “Some will purchase paperbacks because of the price, but long for the hardback copy.”
“Because of the many choices, students had a difficult time deciding which one to take home.”
At least one group clubbed together, each selecting one of five volumes of Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds series. Partly set in West Virginia, it is the story of adolescents who survive a plague but who are left with extraordinary mental powers. Adults mistrust and abuse them. The group plans to swap books until they all have a chance to read the four installments plus the additional book of short stories.
“Students are still coming in to get books!” Westfall wrote weeks later. “We are still working to get books in the hands of all our students. Some students have checked out the next book in the series they first selected. Other students have decided to purchase the series, and then also read other books by the same author. In a time of so much technology, our students still enjoy holding a book in their hands! Thank you.”