Taking up the challenge

Hope Standard: 2009 October 28

You could hear a pin drop at Silver Creek Elementary during the Drop Everything and Read challenge, Monday morning. Students, teachers and even the principal, headed out into the hallways for some silent reading. Austin Christopher, Lindsay Lemay, Lindsay Flexhaug, and Katie Talarico brought their new ball seats out of their classroom - making for a very comfortable read. The B.C. Teacher-Librarians’ Association (BCTLA) challenged everyone in the province to Drop Everything and Read for 20 minutes at exactly 11 a.m.. The Drop Everything and Read challenge began in Surrey in 2007 and became a province-wide event last year.

Simone Rolph

Hansard — House Blues — Monday, October 26, 2009 p.m.

Hansard — House Blues — Monday, October 26, 2009 p.m.

Schools drop everything and read

Victoria News: 2009 October 21

No matter what you’re doing Monday morning, librarians want you to drop everything and read.

As part of National School Library Day, an initiative to promote literacy, Drop Everything and Read hopes to get as many people reading at the same time, on the same day, as possible.

Victorians offer dental help to Ugandans

Victoria Times Colonist: 2009 October 25

Scroll down to Drop everything and read

The acronym is DEAR, short for Drop Everything and Read, and the B.C. Teacher-Librarians' Association and B.C. Teachers' Federation are hoping people all around the province take it to heart tomorrow.

Drop Everything and Read started in 2007 to help mark National School Library Day. The idea is to stop what you're doing at 11 a.m. and spend the next 20 minutes with your face in a book.

Drop Everything and Read . . .

Report Card: 2009 October 25

Get ready for the Drop Everything and Read event Monday at 11 a.m.

The event is organized by the B.C. Teacher-Librarians' Association and celebrates International School Library Day.

BC teacher-librarians (BCTLA) challenge the Legislature to Drop Everything and Read

BCTF: 2009 October 20

October 26, 2009 is National School Library Day and the third anniversary of the BC Drop Everything and Read Challenge. DEAR started as a small challenge between BC school libraries in 2007 and has since grown by leaps and bounds. The simple but powerful idea is to promote the importance of literacy by having as many students and adults as possible read at the same time on the same day.

This year, Victoria school librarian Karen Lindsay and the BCTLA are challenging the Legislature to participate in the DEAR Challenge as well. Imagine the message it would send to the entire province about the importance of reading if MLAs took out their books to “Drop Everything and Read” on October 26!

Organizer Karen Lindsay’s dream is to have everyone in BC put down their work, turn off their computer screens, pick up a book, magazine, or newspaper, and read quietly for 20 minutes on October 26 between 11:00 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. The event was a huge success last year. Dozens of schools representing thousands of students participated in the DEAR Challenge. Many schools across BC organized special events. Local celebrities—athletes, firefighters, police officers, politicians, parents—came in to read, “big” kids read to little ones, and group read-ins were held on playing fields. The response was uniformly positive, so positive that several schools decided to make silent, free-choice reading part of their weekly routines.

That is why the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association is so committed to this challenge. It gives kids across the province not only the chance to relax with books of their own choosing, but the opportunity to see the grown-ups around them model how important reading is in their lives.

Want to participate? This year’s blog is at http://bctladear.blogspot.com/2009/02/dear-drop-everything-and-read.html. To take the event “viral” the BCTLA has a Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/ktj3ea. On Twitter, search BCTLADEAR.

To see some of the participation and endorsements from last year go to http://bctladear.blogspot.com/2008/10/bc-school-trustees-association-has.html.

Parkland's librarian presents human books

Victoria Time Colonist: 2009 October 9

...Coming up for Parkland and many other area schools Oct. 26 is the annual Drop Everything and Read Challenge, which will see people in schools, offices and other gathering places stop whatever they're doing at 11 a.m. and read for 15 to 20 minutes.

"We've got the support of the school community," Rutten said. "Everybody for at least 15 minutes, including the office staff and maintenance staff, will drop everything and they will read."

Reynolds Secondary teacher-librarian Karen Lindsay, an executive member of the B.C. Teacher-Librarians' Association, said a challenge has again been issued for MLAs to be part of the event. Last year, Premier Gordon Campbell, then-education minister Shirley Bond and many other provincial politicians agreed to take part.

Drop Everything and Read

Prince George Citizen: 2009 October 1

A challenge has been issued to Drop Everything and Read by the teacher-librarians of B.C.

On Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. everyone is asked to pick up a newspaper, book or magazine and read for 20 minutes.

In its third year, the B.C. teacher-librarians are inviting businesses, students, adults, even the Legislature to participate.

Last year, the premier, MLA Shirley Bond and several other MLAs participated in the challenge and the invitation is extended to everyone in the province.

Organizer Karen Lindsay’s dream is to have everyone in B.C. put down their work, turn off their computer screens, pick up a book, magazine or newspaper, and read. Picture offices where calls go to voice mail just for those few minutes.

"You have reached L & G Real Estate. We are dropping everything to read until 11:20. If this is an emergency, please call (a designated cell number). Otherwise, why don't you read along with us?"

The event was a huge success last year. Dozens of schools representing thousands of students participated in the DEAR Challenge. Many schools across B.C. organized special events. Local celebrities, athletes, firefighters, police officers, politicians, parents came in to read. Big kids read to little ones, and group read-ins were held on playing fields.

B.C. teacher-librarians want to draw attention to the importance of reading in the development of a successful human being. People know the more you read the better you get at it, and the ability to read with understanding is vitally important to success in the world.

Reading improves vocabulary, increases general knowledge about the world, improves one's writing, and is a great way to relax. Not so obvious is its ability to increase the reader's capacity for empathy, stimulate imagination and create new connections in the brain.

Drop Everything and Read

Aldergrove Star: 2009 October 1

October 26 is National School Library Day and the third anniversary of the BC Drop Everything and Read Challenge.

DEAR started as a small challenge between B.C. school libraries in 2007 and has since grown by leaps and bounds. The simple but powerful idea is to promote the importance of literacy by having as many students and adults as possible read at the same time on the same day.