By Emily Rosenberg ’20
“Okay, what now?” is what Alix Woznick, the Beverly Middle School Librarian, found herself wondering when Beverly Public Schools shut down on March 12, 2020, until for what would eventually be extended to the rest of the school year. In a profession that relies mainly on being together: teaching, she, as well as teachers and librarians across the city, state, and country would need to think of completely new and innovative ways to keep students engaged in their education. Also, now that some teenagers, adults, and children, all have shorter school days, shorter work hours, or in other cases, have been furloughed or laid-off. it was clear that they would get bored, and what does Ms. Woznick do when she gets bored? She picks up a book, of course! This is what began the mission to bring Beverly together through a mission to collectively read 5000 books this spring.
Beverly Keeps Learning is a website that was launched on March 18 by Beverly Public Schools to encourage students to engage in material that will keep their brains exercised and give them access to information on how to continue their education during the school closure. Wanting to incentivize students to continue reading as part of the enrichment effort, Ms Woznick asked teachers to recommend books and created a book talk screencast, calling it “Beverly Keeps Reading,” a play on the title of the website. She then collaborated with the high school librarian, Barb Fecteau, as well as Beverly Public Library Teen Librarian Meaghan Karasin and Assistant Director Alison Babin, to come up with ideas of how “Beverly Keeps Reading” could become more than just a book talk at the Middle School level, and rather a community goal to “encourage and incentivize reading for all ages”
Beverly Keeps Reading is a “community wide initiative” to read 5000 books this Spring. Anyone, any age can sign up on the Beverly Public Library website, and track their books by downloading the Beanstack app or by leaving a message at a phone number. The goal of this challenge was stated by Alix Woznick: to “Encourage and incentivize reading for all ages, promote library services, support local businesses” and of course, bring together Beverly Citizens during the pandemic through “community activity by reaching for a common goal.”
The program helps support local businesses by offering gift cards to restaurants such as Crave, Flip the Bird, and Super Sub in a raffle each week. Participants in the program can increase their chances of winning a gift card by logging books and earning badges. The gift cards are generously provided by the Friends of the Beverly Public Library, and the hope is that through their small contribution, the library will be able to help promote these businesses’s services. In addition, the library is also investing more into their online services such as Overdrive, Hoopla, and Tumblebooks, and advocating for citizens to participate by utilizing these free library services.
As of Friday, May 16, about 400 people were signed up and about half were adults and half were students. Of the 170 students signed up for the program, 44 are Beverly High School Students, 40 are from Beverly Middle School, and the remaining 86 go to public Elementary Schools.
Why 5000 Books?
If there are 40,000+ people in Beverly, and everyone reads at least one book, then why isn’t the goal 40,000 books? Talking to Ms Fecteau, and Ms Woznick, they said they came up with 5000 because it “sounds impressive but is not so huge that we’re never going to get there.” Originally, they thought of ideas such as one book per every person in Beverly, or one book per every square mile in Beverly, though after looking at the stats of how many people read and considering how many people will track their reading, these numbers seemed unattainable.
As of Friday May 16, they’re nearly half way there with 2695 books left to reach the goal of 5000. Popular books or book trends are in novels such as American Dirt, The Dutch House, A Long Petal of the Sea, and the Harry Potter series, as well as some childrens’ books. Furthermore, asking Meghan Karasin, the Beverly Public Library Teen Librarian, what some of the most popular books amongst teens now are, she highlights The Hunger Games, the Renegades Series, as well as Truly Devious and On the Come up.
Are more people reading now than before?
While there are no solid statistics, Karasin states that “there’s anecdotal evidence that people are reading more – but conversely there’s evidence that the stress of the time makes concentrating on reading harder for others.”
The library has seen a growth in checkout via digital platforms over the past 8 weeks, but with no physical check outs there’s been a net loss in circulation. Ms Fecteau hopes that people who don’t normally read find solace in the activity and read more than they would’ve before. However, both agree that the most important thing for people right now during these stressful and uncertain times, is to take care of themselves physically and emotionally. “If reading is a part of that great,” Karasin says, “but it doesn’t have to be.”
If you’re having difficulty finding something good to read, the Beverly Public Library offers personalized reading lists and they also publish their staff picks. You can also consult with Ms Woznick and Ms Fecteau. If you’re having trouble accessing books, the Library offers hundreds of titles on Hoopla, and Overdrive. Beverly Keeps Reading is also in partnership with Copper Dog Books in Downtown Beverly and the Beverly Farms Bookshop, both of which are offering delivery if you order physical books online.
How will the set up of BKR and the school closure influence future programming at the library and at the schools?
Ms Woznick mentions that future summer reading programs at the high school and middle school will take less of a book talk format, and be more about bringing the community together through the art of stories rather than just classic books. Students may be able to listen to podcasts, audio books, read graphic novels, or even watch a show and read a review about it. This setup will take a lot of stress off students who are finding it difficult to indulge themselves in a novel among the distractions of Covid-19.
The adult summer reading program at BPS adopted the Beanstack app to track their reading last year. Now with the rules of social distancing set in place, Beanstack will be used to fuel the Teen and Children Summer reading programs. While the details are not entirely sorted out yet, it seems as if the programs will still strive to help people in the community bond like they’ve done in the past though through more online events rather than events held at the local library. Karasin also mentions that the library has always held it as a priority to collaborate with the schools and that community building events like Beverly Keeps Reading are certainly on their radar for the future, “hopefully under better circumstances.”
At the least, Beanstack will be a helpful resource in continuing library programs as we battle the pandemic and stay in compliance with the rules of social distancing in order to stay safe.
What have our librarians been reading during Stay at Home?
Ms Fecteau says that her favorite book she has read while at home is Forward Me Back to You a novel by award winning author Mitali Perkins, as does Ms Woznick. Woznick also suggests a read by Priya Parker titled The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters which is especially interesting and thought provoking when we are apart. Meghan Karasin also loved We Used to Be Friends by Amy Spalding, a dual narrative about the breakup of best friends between 2 high school seniors who have been inseparable friends since Kindergarten.
To conclude, whether you’re a gigantic nerd who has no problem picking up book after book until your head hurts, or if you’d prefer a movie and the most someone can convince you to read are the instructions on the macaroni and cheese box, or in between. Maybe you don’t like macaroni? Beverly Keeps Reading hopes you join our community of people who will be reading 5000 books this Spring. Having trouble focusing on a lengthy novel? Start with short stories or simple poetry books. If we can join together to read 5000 books alone from our houses, we can certainly join together (from a safe distance) to defeat a pandemic.
Learn how you can join at beverlypubliclibrary.org/remote
Find Beanstack here: https://beverlypubliclibrary.beanstack.com/reader365
