After reading several articles on one of our main goals as teacher librarians to teach our students a love of reading, I felt one, in particular (TL June 2016), had some food for thought. One of our goals is for our students to choose to read independently and acquire a love of reading for pleasure. One way to accomplish this goal is to have a calendar of yearly reading events.
Studies have been done that show extrinsic rewards can temporarily increase motivation but do not have a lasting impact on developing the reading habits we are seeking for them. (Pavonetti et al., 2002) Recently, research has found that by maximizing opportunities for student choice of reading materials students increased their involvement in reading and enabled them to engage in conversations about their book selections (Hall et al., 2014) Through these studies, it was evident that students need time, resources, and support from both teachers and other adults to allow them the opportunity to read for pleasure, stressing the importance of intrinsic motivation and student choice when selecting their books. We teacher librarians, can provide reading promotional events throughout the school library to create a culture of reading. The following list and sites are primary for students in K- grade 6, but older students can be involved as well since many of the events would be interesting to them. I hope you will find something you can share with your students and faculty in the coming year.

SEPTEMBER

International Dot Day
http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/

Talk Like a Pirate Day

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2014/09/celebrate-talk-pirate-day-your-classroom

Banned Book Week

Home

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallenged-books/top100

Library Card Sign-Up Month

http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/card

OCTOBER

Read for the Record

http://www.jstart.org/campaigns/read-for-the-record

National Hispanic Heritage Month

http://www.readingrockets.org/booklist/books-hispanic-heritage-month

NOVEMBER

Family Literacy Day

http://readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/celebrate-national-family-literacy-20681.html

World Kindness Day

https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/for-educators/kindness_in_the _classroom

Picture Book Month

http://picturebookmonth.com/

International Games Day

http://igd.ala.org/

DECEMBER

Caldecott, Newbery, Geisel Book Awards

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia

Letters About Literature

http://www.read.gov/letters/

JANUARY

Science Fiction Day

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/science-fiction-day/

Multicultural Children’s Book Day

http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/our-programs/mccbd-2016-classroom-reading-challenge/

FEBRUARY

Groundhog Job Shadow Day

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curro50.shtml

Black History Month

http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/blackhistory

Presidents’ Day

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/unit/presidents-day-everything-you-need

World Read Aloud Day

http://www.litworld.org/wrad/

MARCH

Read Across America

http://www.seussville.com/Educators/educator-ReadAcrossAmerica.php

Children’s Choice Awards

http://www.bookweekonline.com/

APRIL

D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read)

http://www.dropeverythingandread.com/

School Library Month

http://www.ala.org/aasl/slm

National Poetry Month 

https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/home

MAY

Star Wars Day

http://www.starwars.com/may-the-4th

Free Comic Book Day

http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/992