In conjunction with election year we decided our yearly theme would be "ELECT TO READ" and "VOTE FOR BOOKS." We decorated in red, white and blue and used stars and balloons cutouts around the room. We gave each grade a poster that said, "Elect to Read," on it and asked the kids to sign their names and write how many books they planned to read during the year. We hung these posters on the bulletin board.

We wanted the kids to have the experience of voting for something so we had a bookmark contest. We had over a hundred entries, so we, the librarians, narrowed the choices down to about 15 possibilities, then the children got to cast their vote for best bookmark. We had the kids vote for one from the younger grades 1-3, and one from grades 4-6. After the winners were chosen we had the bookmarks printed on bright cardstock to pass out in the library. The winners all got a gift bag which included a new book and other fun items. The kids really enjoyed making the bookmarks and voting on them.

We did the bookmark contest the same week in November as election week. We also gave the kids a sticker that said, "We Love Books," after they had voted, just like their parents got after they voted.  The ballot box we used is now used for the Beehive nominee book voting and we keep encouraging the kids to vote, vote, vote.

During that week we read election books, the older students, Grace for President,  by Kelly DiPucchio, and Duck for President, by Doreen Cronin to the younger students.

Bell View Elementary