Summer Book Club is Now Book Love Book Study

Happy spring to the Book Love Foundation Community,

We know that reading widely is a bridge to understanding and a more peaceful world. For seven years we have brought teachers together to talk about books. We began in 2017 with four titles and four speakers, then added more every year through 2023 where we celebrated 12 books and 45 speakers! We appreciate your involvement in summer book club for any or all of the last seven years. Your love for teaching inspires all of us to work harder.

However, we forgot something important.

We forgot that summer is essential rest, family, and friend time for all of you. It is a time to reconnect with all the things you neglect during the school year. Although hundreds of teachers joined the book club each summer, sometimes only a few could attend an author event - especially when we scheduled 10 or more in a single week! We received apologies from some teachers who wanted to attend, but also wanted to take their kids out to a museum that day ... yikes! No teacher guilt allowed. Rest is necessary.

Even though all summer book club interview videos are available on Book Love community for the entire year, we recognize how hard it is to fit in anything once the school year begins. So, we have reconsidered the professional learning piece of the Book Love Foundation.

As you know, the Book Love Foundation exists to put books into teachers' hands, so that students have access to books that will help them develop a love of reading and an understanding of our diverse world. We need our board members focused on fundraising and in these crazy times, supporting teachers who are facing book banning.

We have changed our model for professional learning. Instead of summer only, in 2024 it will happen all year - in a condensed form. We will offer ONE BOOK + ONE AUTHOR INTERVIEW + an on-going TEACHER CONVERSATION run by grant recipients EACH MONTH ALL YEAR. Exciting, right? You can join for just one month for $10 or all year for $60. 100% of what you pay will go to provide books to a teacher.

Our goal with our summer study remain the same:

• To promote a love reading, of authors and illustrators, and of teaching.

• To provide a space where teachers can gather and talk about books they are reading. We know we deepen our thinking when we listen to what others think about a book, just like we see in our book clubs in our classrooms.

• To lift up and celebrate authors that reflect the idversity of our world and our students. We want students to see experiences outside of their own brought to life in poetry, in prose, and in nonfiction.

Our year-round book club allows you to drop in when you can or skip a month if you need to. You will be able to access any of the conversations throughout the school year. We begin in July with Shamari Reid's new book Humans Who Teach: A Guide for Centering Love, Justice, and Liberation in Schools.

We would appreciate your feedback on our plan ... we value your opinions and ideas. We look forward to seeing you in our book study discussions or at the NCTE annual convention in Boston where we will host a table in the exhibit hall to meet you.

In book love and teacher love,
The Book Love Foundation Board of Directors