I’ve found in recent years my reading goals have been pretty standard: read all the books on [INSERT NAME HERE] national, state award list. A coworker posed an interesting question: what books are we missing that aren’t necessary said award contenders? Which leads me to my new 2021 objective: how can we redefine our reading goals in 2021?
- Read the Kid Recommendations– What book does a kid want you to read? Next time you talk to a kid- (yes it’s harder in a pandemic) ask them to assign YOU what to read next!
- Finish those Series– I recently told my book club how rarely I read the second book in a series and how it’s even rarer for me to read an entire series. One of my attendees said, “but Ms. Emily, you’re supposed to be the person I talk books with, and I can’t even talk about the second Artemis Fowl with you?!” So OK… I need to read the second Artemis Fowl, the second Aru Shah and more of the 39 Clues.
- Read the Readers Advisory– The most common readers advisory question I get is “my kid wants to start reading chapter books, where should they go?” I know what to recommend- Owl Diaries, Bunjitsu Bunny, King and Kayla, but how many of those titles have I actually read? The lucky part of this is they are not even too long.
- Read your Population– We are doing our best to fill our shelves with diverse titles and titles that reflect our population, but am I reading those titles? This is another reading goal I can amp up a notch.
- Read the Board Books– Now that I’m a mom, I’ve found myself appreciating board books in a whole new manner, and asking for board books in a whole new manner. There is such a wide variety of developmental levels reading board books and different needs for example: newborns wanting high contrast books, infants hoping for sensory titles, toddlers looking to learn concepts. This is definitely a category I can do better in.
Now some of these titles will show up on the “best of lists” and “mock award titles,” (and I’ll probably end up reading a good amount of those anyways) but I know that making a focused effort in these categories will help challenge myself in a new way, and reach more of my customers.
What are your reading goals in 2021?
This post addresses core competency I: commitment to client group.