This post is written by NCTE member, Tiffany Flowers.
Many people find it hard to host a Read-In during Black History month because February is so short and also the coldest month of the year. Across the Midwest and farther north, the weather may be too cold for participants to physically go out for a Read-In. Therefore, I, along with my new book club, decided to make history by holding our first Read-In online. To organize the Read-In, we formed a private group on Facebook and used a conference call platform. After we set up the group, we quickly selected a book, Octavia Butler’s Kindred. After reading the book, we decided to continue our work all year long. The feedback from the Read-In was fantastic. The best decision we made was to keep the momentum going. We recorded our hours and proceeded to select a book for next year. I highly encourage others not to miss out on the opportunity to host future Read-Ins using our 21st century approach, which allows you to connect with readers all over the United States. If you are interested in coordinating a Read-In, whether online or face to face, please log on to the host site and download the toolkit.
Dr. Tiffany A. Flowers is an assistant professor of education in the department of cultural and behavioral sciences at Perimeter College at Georgia State University. She is an author, literacy advocate, and researcher.