Will you read to play Survivor Books?

Have you seen the new book display at the main entrance of the Learning Commons? It's been up for a couple weeks now. I call it Survivor Books! Every year, it is part of my job to weed the collection of print books, and I love to have students and even teachers participate in the decision making of what fiction books stay on the shelf and which leave us to make room for new books. Nonfiction is easy to weed because the first question to be asked should be, "Is the information still accurate in the book?" Typically, this is answered by the copyright year of the book. Information can become inaccurate as new findings and inventions emerge in our ever changing world. With fiction, it doesn't matter how old a story is to read it because they are all make believe stories, and time isn't a concern. Fiction in a collection depends on the readers in the community borrowing the books and what they enjoy reading. There are some exceptions like the classics, but fiction's purpose is usually to make the reader feel emotion and immerse oneself in the story.

So how do you play Survivor Books in our Learning Commons? Well, here are the simple steps and rules, if you will:

1. Find a book! There are one of two ways to complete this task. If you are at school and can go to the Learning Commons, then go browse the Survivor Book display. If you are not at school or you simply can't get to the Learning Commons, then use your Destiny Quest account to login and browse the 2018 Survivor Books resource list.

Login to Destiny (on your PC or laptop) or login to Destiny Quest app on your iPad. Tutorial for Destiny Quest is here. Select Public Lists (a.k.a. Resource Lists in Destiny), and select 2018 Survivor Books.

2. Check out a book from the display or list!

3. Read the book from start to finish!

4. Cast your vote! Tell Ms. Emily when you return your book if the book "survived" or can be "cast away." Okay, okay! You don't have to use those responses exactly, but tell her if it should remain part of our collection because you enjoyed the story and others might also, or if we can make room on the shelf for a new title.

You have the power to make our collection of fiction AWESOME!!! The books are in the Survivor Books challenge because they haven't circulated (been checked out) in quite some time...TOO LONG, in fact. If in the end, the books in this challenge do not get borrowed, I will ultimately make the decision to say goodbye to them. I want you to enjoy, if not love, what you choose to read. I also want to give you choice and give you voice, so here is an opportunity for you to be heard and contribute to our school's collection of literature!

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