The Information Technology
in School Libraries course this semester introduced me to the wide world of digital
tools available to aid educators in teaching. Many of our weekly blog exercises
focused on reading about these myriad tools, then further researching and
writing about a particular resource of interest. This experience led me to discover
the social media reading site Biblionasium or, as their site explains, “the
GoodReads for kids.”
Biblionasium’s user
friendly site allows students and educators to keep track of, view, and recommend children’s books. Personally, I have enjoyed the virtual bookshelf which
displays the cover image of the books I’ve read – 78 since joining less than
two months ago (many for 756 - Children's Lit. class). Knowing how good it feels to see that number rise each time I
add a book to my “I have read it” list makes me imagine children who use this resource will feel the same way. As my school’s media specialist often says, “Getting books
in the hands of children is our main job” (K. Jones, personal communication). Any system that creates enthusiasm about books can add toward the effort of creating lifelong readers.
While I use this site
personally, my hope is that by the time I am a school media specialist, it will
be included in my county’s list of approved educational websites for teachers. I
can imagine every student using Biblionasium during their weekly media center
visit - entering the books they’ve read into their account, sharing this list with their classmates, creating a lesson
around using the book review section, or creating a log of their feedback on
the book.
