Read Across Connecticut Week offers a great chance for educators to celebrate reading with their students—but how do we keep encouraging reading year round? On the latest episode of CEA’s podcast, Two T’s in a Pod, Simsbury library media specialist Jamie Sepa talks with CEA President Kate Dias and Vice President Joslyn DeLancey about the importance of school libraries and how to sustain that joy of reading in children—and adults—the other 51 weeks of the year.
“Part of what makes school libraries so successful is the day-to-day experience we offer students,” says Sepa, the co-president of the Simsbury Education Association. He explains the many responsibilities library media specialists take on from recommending the perfect book to teaching literacy and information literacy skills.
“Our students someday are going to want to attend college, buy a car, or plan a vacation,” Sepa says. “We teach research, thinking, and making good choices based on available information. Those are all skills kids need to have, and that’s what we model in the library.”
“The most valuable thing we can teach our children is to be curious and interested in the world around them,” Dias adds.
Did you celebrate Read Across Connecticut with your class? A contest is currently being held, open to all Connecticut public school classrooms, offering a chance to win one of four $500 classroom libraries. Submit photos of your class showing how they made reading a llama fun during Read Across Connecticut Week now through March 20 for a chance to win. To enter visit readacrossct.org.
Listen to the full podcast episode below or wherever you get your podcasts.
