Confession time!
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I tried to talk Brad out of doing the #30secondbooktalk this year. Before you judge me too harshly, let me explain: When the time came to start planning for our annual book talk bonanza, I was feeling beat. With everything going on in the world, I was simply unable to see a path to make our yearly competition work. I wish I'd recorded our conversation on the day we talked about it, because then I'd have an archive of Brad's words. But to summarize, when I said "I'm not sure we should do the #30secondbooktalk this year," Brad's reply was something along the lines of, "I think our hearts need books and readers now more than ever." While we agreed that now is not the time for a competition, Brad's heart knew, before mine did, that now IS the time for us to help spread joy and to foster connection through books and a shared love of reading. Thank goodness my heart, eventually, caught up!
And so today we're proud to announce the 2020 #30secondbooktalk! This year, we're foregoing the competition and focusing on the joy! Everything you need to know about this year's event is contained here: bit.ly/30secondbooktalk2020 We hope you'll participate, but to get things started, checkout our kickoff video!
As Brad said, this year it's all about bringing harnessing the power of the book talk to bring us together during a time when it's easy to feel separate and alone. Participating is easy:
WATCH! Take a look at this year’s kickoff video.
CONNECT! We believe stories, and sharing our love of reading, connects us to one another. Use this document to get others excited about participating in this year’s #30secondbooktalk! Everyone from your students to the teachers, administrators, librarians, guidance counselors (and everyone in between) is welcome to join the fun!
CREATE! Using any video creation tool you like, create your best #30secondbooktalk! (see the resources to the left for inspiration and help)!
SHARE! We believe creating connections to one another through story and our love of reading is more important than ever. Help us spread the love by sharing your epic, awesome and amazing video book talks on social media using the #30secondbooktalk hashtag! (Note: be sure you have permission from parents before sharing videos featuring students!)
SUPPORT! Cheer on others who share their book talks with comments, likes and shares!
READ! The #30secondbooktalk is a fantastic way to add more great books to your TBR piles!
As we enter our 4th week of quarantine in my part of the world, I don't know about you, but my heart needs the joy that only reading and sharing that passion with others can bring. Thank you, Brad, for helping me recallibrate. And big, BIG thanks to everyone who joins us in this year's fun. We can't wait to see what you create!
Let the 2020 #30secondbooktalk begin!
