by Susan Elliott
Media Specialist
Decatur Intermediate Learning Center, Indianapolis
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"Lunch and library together, my two favorite things in school. I love it!" Cheyenne Starker |
There’s a new place to enjoy books in our school . . . the lunchbrary! As a lunchroom monitor, I have observed that many students eat quickly and wind up with nothing to do for 15 or 20 minutes but talk and grow restless. The perfect solution? Get some books in the cafeteria to encourage the kids to read. And that’s exactly what I did.
Our local Decatur Township Educational Foundation funded my grant to enable me to purchase five high interest books for each lunch table. These books are stored in a lunchbrary tote bag. After most students finish eating, one bag is distributed to each table. As students are observed reading, the lunch monitors give them tickets on which they write their names. The tickets are then dropped into a designated box. Each February, one ticket is drawn from each of the four boxes to determine the winners of a prize. Our food services staff provides the prizes obtained through its various purchasing programs.
The students’ enthusiasm for the program is encouraging. Taylor Krause sent me a gracious note. “Thank you for making the lunchbrary possible. I love the books a lot. I’m very excited to go to lunch now.” However, the best testimonial came from Sandy, our custodian. “Boys who have been competing to be sweepers during the various lunchtimes no longer want to work five days a week. They requested a meeting with me to reduce their work time to two or three days a week because they wanted to read!” In addition, many students have asked for permission to bring their own books to the cafeteria. Any previous reluctance to read during lunch period has been replaced by an eagerness to finish eating so they can READ!
How wonderful it is that we encouraged the pure joy of relaxing with a good book after a meal with friends. By providing the chance for young people to fall in love with reading, we have given them a priceless treasure that will never lose its luster.