BLOGS > AUGUST 27, 2020
BY CARRIE FRIDAY
In my school district we are offering in-person (brick and mortar) learning and eLearning at the same time, with in-person students and eLearners in the same class at the same time. It’s really making us rethink how we approach everything. One thing we know for sure that is going to work is our schoolwide 20 Book Challenge.
For the past four years we have run a schoolwide reading challenge, and it’s had a tremendous impact on our entire school. We challenge all our students, staff members, families and community members to read 20 different books from 20 different categories (example: a state award book, a graphic novel, a book recommended by a friend, etc.). While this idea was inspired by Donalyn Miller’s 40 Book Challenge, it is not the same as her initial intention. Once they’ve read the book, they jump over into Google Classroom and use a Google Form to log their book by responding to a prompt that makes them think about the story and then write a response. As the librarian for our school, I manage the program and read their responses and then give them credit for the book; or I send feedback on how to revise their response to demonstrate that they actually read the book.
The great thing about our program is that it’s already pretty digital anyway (other than students checking out print books), which makes it ideal for eLearning. As participants log their books in Google Classroom, I’m able to easily maintain everyone’s progress. Since we’ve been using this program for a few years to great success, it’s familiar to our patrons, easily adapts to our hybrid learning model for fall 2020 and continues to illustrate some great literacy growth.
Recently I had the opportunity to share our program through a webinar, “A Culture of Literacy: How the 20 Book Challenge Revolutionized Our School.” You can listen to the presentation on-demand if the book challenge sounds like something that might help your school promote literacy and the love of reading. I encourage you to check it out. If you have follow-up questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help in any way possible.
Carrie Friday
Media Specialist
Southwest Middle School
Palm Bay, Florida
Carrie Friday is the Media Specialist at Southwest Middle School in Palm Bay, Florida, and a 2018-2019 Teacher of the Year Finalist for Brevard Public Schools. She isn't afraid to take risks and will do just about anything to encourage the love of literacy in students and teachers. She is one of the co-founders of the #swms20bookchallenge and a total YA author fangirl. She is a chapter leader of her school’s Project Lit Community chapter, a committee member for the Florida SSYRA 6-8 selection committee and on the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) nominations committee. She believes in innovation, collaboration and the power of really good books. You can connect with her through email at friday.carrie@brevardschools.org or on Twitter @CarrieFriday. You can also follow along with her adventures in the Media Center at alwaysfridaylibrary.blogspot.com.
An Author Interview with Ha Dinh
July 28, 2026
Ly-Lan Finds a Way is an illustrated early chapter book series for children ages 6-10 written by Vietnamese American author Hà Dinh. Through warm, relatable stories rooted in school life, family, and friendship, the series explores themes of resilience, empathy,...
Read more
July 17, 2026
Public libraries have spent the past year navigating a book vendor market in motion. If your library has been searching for a public library book vendor with real staying power – one whose ordering technology actually fits how your team...
Read more
Powering Summer Reading Through Partnership and Purpose
July 9, 2026
That’s the impact of this year’s Book Up Summer program, an annual literacy initiative led by Washington-based nonprofit Page Ahead that helps low-income students choose and take home books for summer reading.For the fifth consecutive year, Follett Content supported the...
Read more
New from Follett Content: tonies + Book Bundles Built for Library Circulation
June 23, 2026
New tonies® + Book Bundles from Follett Content are a playful addition to your Library of Things, turning storytime love into everyday reading – all without screens. The unique pairing of audio figurines and print books creates a novel new way...
Read more
An Author Interview with Pedro MartÍn
June 5, 2026
Pedro Martín is the Newbery Honor Award, Pura Belpre Author and Illustrator Award-winning creator of the graphic memoir MEXIKID, based off his online comic series of the same name. In this extraordinary graphic memoir companion, MEXIKID DREAMS, hilarious family hijinks, immigration...
Read more
We're Book People: The Summer Reads That Made Us Readers
June 5, 2026
Maybe it was a rainy afternoon, a long road trip in the back of the minivan, or a reason to convince mom for a trip out of the house to the library. For most of us who found our way...
Read more