New program alert!
Our library has had the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program for a long time, so I felt like starting something for the teens was needed. 100 Books Before Graduation isn't a new concept by any means, but I've taken bits and pieces from different libraries to create the ideal program for us.
Who can participate: those in the summer before 6th grade through the graduation date of senior year
What books count: anything within their reading level; traditional books, eBooks, audiobooks, manga/graphic novels; books can be reread up to 3 times; (I've also seen some libraries allow teens to count a book as long as they got 1/3 of the way through and then wrote a paragraph or two about why they couldn't finish the book.)
I created these bookmark logs for each chunk of books they need to read in order to earn a prize (more on that later). I liked the idea of a bookmark because it's something they can keep in each book they're reading instead of having to keep track of a large sheet of paper for only a few books. We do have an online option, so if they don't want paper at all, they don't need to use it. Once they finish one of the logs, they'll get the next one, so they won't have to worry about keeping track of each log at the same time.
The prize structure was the most difficult thing I had to figure out. Originally I was going to do 25/50/75/100 but after speaking with other librarians, they pointed out that's a lot of books to keep teens engaged with the program before they get a reward. I also threw around the idea of a prize for every 10 books, but ultimately I spread it out how I felt would be the most beneficial.
There are prizes at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 75, 90, and 100. It seems like a lot of prizes in the beginning, but that's mostly to keep the momentum for the participants. If they only read one book a month, that's about one prize every 6 months for the first two and a half years. Once they hit that 25 book mark, most of the teens are already invested so we spread the prizes out the farther you get.
As for the prizes themselves, there will be a large prize at each 1/4 (25, 50, 75, and 100). I'm thinking they will get to choose a free book and a local gift card (probably $10). The others will be prizes from what I'm calling the "Book Bin". It will be filled with various reading accessories: book lights, nice leather corner bookmarks, magnetic bookmarks, annotation tabs, highlighters/pens, and enamel pins/stickers. I also plan on using our 3D printer to make page holders and book ends to put in the bin. I'm trying to keep it a large enough variety that they could pick a different item every time they get a prize from the bin.
With their registration, they'll receive their first book log, a flyer with the program information, and (I hope) a book review journal. I created a book review sheet and am planning on spiral binding it so that they get 1 review sheet per 100 books they'll read. Filling them out won't be required to complete the program. It's just an extra fun thing if they feel like doing it. It can also serve as a nice memento for them to look back on to see what they read and how they felt about it (and if that changed!).
The program hasn't officially launched yet since I'm still completing some of the marketing. I'm hoping I get it done before the summer reading program starts so whatever they log for that will also count for this! I'll be sure to post updates on how it's received once I launch it.
