March 12th - Books for Everyone

Our second meeting meeting was another success. Attendance was down a bit, leading us to have a conversation about the day we choose to meet. Thursdays seem to yield a lot of competing mandatory events throughout the county. Please take a moment to vote for your choice of day, so we can better serve everyone for 09-10.

Our meeting began with a membership report by Suelyn Brooks announcing we've grown to more than 70 members! That's incredible. Thank you to everyone who has supported us by becoming a member this first year. We hope you'll renew for next year as we have some great things planned. A local BCRC newsletter, mini-conference and Saturday Brunch are all in the works. Jan Sparks shared with us a treasury report letting us know that we're on our way to having a working budget.

We began our new regular segment at this meeting, our "Idea Share." Anyone from our membership can share a quick 5-10 minutes on something they've learned through professional development or something that's been working in their experiences with children. Leah Roche from Beaufort High School shared wonderful ideas about a project she's been using to combine literacy and technology while enticing kids to pick up a book they may enjoy. The concept was developed along with Jessica Mangum, the Media Specialist at Hilton Head High School, who wanted something promoting books and reading to run all the time at a kiosk. The project has grown to involve the kids creating their own "Book Bitz" using Movie Maker and Powerpoint in conjunction with Teen Tech Week.

Susan Olsen, Diane Wiggins, and Laurie Allenbach, from Barnes and Noble Booksellers at Indigo Run on Hilton Head, presented a variety of goods and services that are available at their store. Susan stated that daily she is asked to match a book with a child. She shared many book titles for younger children. Diane shared a list of books available at their store for readers between 3rd grade and high school. She also gave plot summaries for many of the books, teasing many of us to want to pick them up or match them with children. Laurie wrapped up the presentation by mentioning some of the events and services offered by Barnes and Noble including the 20% educators discount, Educator Appreciate Week which is coming up in April and in store book fairs which can be used as stress free fund raisers.

To end the meeting, we awarded many doorprizes. Attendees had written their name and their favorite book on a shamrock as they entered. Here are some of those favorites:

• The Twilight Series
• The Bible
• Pink and Say
• Panda Bear Panda Bear What Do You See?
• Skippy yon Jones
• Wump World
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Oh the Places You Will Go
• The Great Gatsby
• At Home in Mitford
• Love You Forever
• Something Borrowed
• The Paperbag Princess
• Baby
• Harris and Me
• Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk