My elementary school had a unit (I think in third or fourth grade) where each student made and illustrated a book, which was then bound by the librarians and temporarily added to the school library's collection, on a special shelf (for books by current students). Other students could check it out during the school year, and I think there was even an assignment where you were expected to check out one other student's book and give some kind of report or presentation about it!<p>At the end of the year, you got your own book back to keep.<p>This was a really great school project.
This reminds me of how instrumental just going to the library was as a kid for my love of reading. It was the only place that was like a store to me at the time where I could have anything I wanted. It felt like a fun challenge to find as many books that I might want to read as possible.<p>I wonder how we can create this experience more easily remotely. There are tons of library eBook apps that are all pretty awesome, but discovery of new content just isn't the same. I find myself going to the library still. Or even to book stores to write down interesting looking titles.<p>I know this seems like a boring problem because you can just go in person then put a hold on the eBook version while you are there. But there has to be a way to present a curated selection of books that inspires children to:<p>- enjoy the adventure of finding a good book<p>- fosters the idea that reading unlocks knowledge or stories about anything they want<p>- makes the process of sampling a book as easy as it is on Amazon, or in person<p>Why? When schools are remote, or to serve children that don't have a local anything nearby.<p>Does anyone know of services that provide this now or have any ideas for how this would best work as an enhanced UI over say Libby or overdrive, or even hoopla all of which are great for if you already know what you want to read.
My son did this to a book he wrote. Something about a moose... He slid it onto the shelf at the school library, and found a year later that some employee had put on a library sticker and a checkout card. A couple people checked it out; it was still on the shelf a few years later.
This is why I've supported 826LA (and the other 826 chapters), started by the author Dave Eggers. Among the reading and writing, tutoring and college essay writing programs they sponsor, mostly focused on kids who are in homes where English is a second language, they also help kids publish their own book.<p>You would be shocked to see how proud the kids are when they have their very own words, in <i>print</i> - it's whimsical and inspiring that they can accomplish anything.
There's a nonprofit edtech startup called Story Shares [1] that gives students the chance to publish their stories for other kids to read. They just wrapped up an open call a few days ago, and the top stories will be put into their catalog.<p>1: <a href="https://www.storyshares.org/" rel="nofollow">https://www.storyshares.org/</a>
I would love it if my local library had a section dedicated to local amateur authors. I want my boys to see that being an author is not some huge gap. You don’t need a fancy book making machine or publisher. Just write and share.
I am in the process of editing a book each my kids are writing (boy! chasing authors for deadlines is a thankless task). The idea is to self-publish on Amazon later on.<p>This is probably the best thing I have read about all week. Fantastic.
My kids's school has creating a book a part of the curriculum every year beginning in kindergarten. My son who's amazingingly prolific did two books last year (he was in first grade). There was one day when he was in kindergarten that we were both writing at the same time. I managed to get a couple hundred words written on my novel in progress. He knocked out a 750-word story (dictated to his mother) that was damned amazing.
Is anyone working on a VR-based library simulator?<p>Sounds so cool to browse the Project Gutenberg library in VR. You could slip in fun additions like this as easter eggs.
“I also kind of think that he might become a librarian,” Hartman added. “We in libraries love stories and love to share them.”<p>I'm hoping the kid figures out ZIP files, HTML, and PNGs so he can compose an epub for wider distribution.