We librarians always want to promote reading and constantly look for ways to get more students to use our excellent book resources – including the many current titles we buy to support our curriculum. One of our Clearwater librarians, Pat Barbier, was chatting with Professor Eleanor Vassel over the summer about our frustration when great resources are sometimes not fully utilized. Eleanor pondered the issue and came up with a traditional, yet innovative, first essay assignment for one of her Composition 2 classes.
We prepared a list of 60 or so new non-fiction titles in a wide variety of subject areas. Students visited our multi-purpose room and looked them over to find an area of interest. From there, each selected a book for checkout and will skim the book, and choose three chapters for more in-depth analysis, focusing on how each contributes to the whole. Hopefully, they’ll exhibit skills learned in Comp 1 and start applying those analytical skills that are a focus of Comp 2.
While we’ll never have Barnes & Noble ambience, several librarians contributed snacks, and we had a selection of contemporary music playing (Coldplay, Dave Matthews, Black Eyed Peas).
Stay tuned and we’ll try to publish a couple of the final products.
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