They always come back - the popularity of student created books

Abstract

The Children's School of Rochester maintains a collection of over two hundred books published by our elementary students as part of an annual school project. The ever-changing collection reflects books that were donated to the library by our students, and are then returned to the students with our thanks as they leave our school. Autobiographies, fantasy, historical fiction and superheroes are just a few of the creative ways children share their own stories and dreams. The student body is balanced between refugees and native-born students making student published books the first English language books that many of our students read. These books are circulated to other schools in our large urban district and are some of the most popular in the library. An unexpected result is that we find students respect these books more than any other type of library material, allowing for an unprecedented return rate.

A new addition to the project this year is to have students create video book reviews of these and other books that are then being uploaded to our District library catalog. This has, so far, been found to not only encourage use of the online catalog, it is helping teach students skills such as public speaking and positive uses of social media technology. Both projects are easier to implement and more cost effective than first considered. They are a benefit to any school or public library.