Wild on books

I was away on my field trip today and when I returned to school I had an email sitting there from the Teacher in Charge of the Library about a teenage initiative thats is being carried out in West Auckland secondary schools.

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Can we do this?

Thanks so much Angela for drawing our attention to this. The link is http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20070803-0933-Wild_Books-064.mp3

and is worth listening to. Congratulations to Waitakere library team for coming up with this brilliant idea. The whole interview is very thought provoking.
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Now I have been busy looking at this and working on an idea for the use of this at school, however it will involve a little bit of work, the pilot and idea were originally designed by Waitakere Library and we will look at using some of there ideas. This will be done in conjunction with the Librarian at school.

200 books could be a bit of a large task, however creating the stickers to go inside the book will be easy, and creating the codes simple.

The website however? Do we make it only available inside the school or available outside the school.

What is involved in the website when students register a book? It sounds like we may have to do a trip to the west of Auckland for a bit of investigation.

http://www.booksinthewild.co.nz is the website that the Waitakere Library have created, and Manukau Library also have an idea of point allocated to books with there idea of Manix http://www.manukau-libraries.govt.nz/whatwehave/Teens/teenview.htm
There is a huge difference between these sites, however I think there is also a larger issue at stake, they have a great idea, but not the interface to engage the users, the manix pages are basic webpages, they need to employ someone who has an idea on how to create good websites. The books in the wild website has some good graphics but the overall design lets it down, students expect more these days.


More information about the "books in the wild"

Ground-breaking literacy programme for Waitakere teens
copied from http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/WhaHap/nm/mr/jul07.asp#bitw

The wild west is set to take on a new twist with the launch of a ground-breaking teen literacy programme in Waitakere City.

In a New Zealand first, the city's Year 9 and 10 students will have the opportunity to participate in 'Books in the Wild' - an innovative book-sharing initiative involving the release of popular teen titles into "wild" places around the city.

Waitakere Library & Information Services is kicking off the trial programme with the launch of eight specially selected teen titles into the city's secondary schools on the week of July 16th. The challenge for the students is to hunt down and read the titles, register them online and release them back into the wild for others to read.

The titles include contemporary and classic novels, as well as non-fiction, and half are written by New Zealand authors.

There are a number of great prizes up for grabs for both individuals and participating schools, including a Playstation Portable and games, 30Gb iPod, Vodafone phones and airtime and Whitcoulls vouchers, as well as virtual library vouchers that can be redeemed in Waitakere City libraries for games, DVDs and CDs. Each book contains a unique identifying number, which allows the holder to register online, comment on the book they've found and enter the prize draw.

A digital photo competition is also being run alongside the programme - the challenge being to take a photo of one of the eight books in a 'wild' place. The winning photograph will be made into a new library card for 2008.

Children's and Teens' Services Librarian, Adrienne Hannan, says it is hoped that the Books in the Wild initiative will inspire the hard-to-reach teen market to become more engaged in literature.

"If we are going to grow the future capability of Waitakere City, we need initiatives like this that will help to grow its levels of literacy," she says.

"It also helps them to see that the library is not just about print resources any more. The modern library is more like the 'living room' of the city, with computers, games, DVDs and CDs in addition to books, magazines, reference material and study guides. If we can raise that awareness through initiatives like this, particularly with young people who may not have been brought up as library users or given books in the home, then we stand to create a new generation of library users."

If the 14-week trial is successful, Waitakere Library and Information Services will look to extend the programme to other age groups.

For more information, visit www.booksinthewild.co.nz