Show Your Library Love

By Malkia “Kia” McLeod, Maryland State Department of Education

Show Your Library Love (boy holding a mobile phone with speech bubble)

DYK? Reading aloud to children is an important school readiness skill.

Join the Maryland State Department of Education, American Association of School Librarians (AASL), Maryland Association of School Librarians, Maryland State Library Agency, and schools and programs nationwide to celebrate School Library Month.

Since 1985, school librarians across the nation have been hosting various activities in April to help their schools and local communities celebrate the essential role that strong school libraries play in transforming learning. The first theme of this national observance, “Where Learning Never Ends: The School Library Media Center,” still captures the primary purpose of today’s school library in playing a “critical role in preparing learners for life in an information-rich society.”

AASL recommends you “Show Your Library Love” this month by recording a video to share with the school librarian. Teachers, providers, parents and families can work together to:

Create a brief script for children of all ages to share why they love their school librarian.
Add stories about their favorite books and what they learned from reading those books.
Practice filming the video with the children.
Use a mobile phone to record the children showing their library love.
Share the recording with your school librarian and on social media using the hashtags #MDSchoolLibraryLove and #AASLslm.

For inspiration, listen as the American cartoonist, author and illustrator of children’s literature, David Murray “Dav” Pilkey Jr., shares his love of libraries.

DYK? Dav Pilkey was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia when he was a kid. According to the story, he was so disruptive in class that his teachers made him sit in the hallway daily.

For more ways to celebrate School Library Month, visit ala.org. Discover tips for reading aloud to children, how to support children’s language and literacy at home and more with The MFE Reading With Children Collection on the resources page.