I've shared before that back in January, Heather Turner and I began moderating educator chats for Teacher Librarians (and those who love them!) over on Bluesky. It's been so much fun and it reminds me a lot of the "golden age" of social media - before the billionaires took over. In those days, social media felt brimming with possibility and for a lot of us, the ability to connect with and learn from other educators, for free, was transformative. While I deeply wish more people participated in these weekly conversations, it's been a joy to see the library community grow and flourish again on this new platform. Each week as we gather to share resources and ideas I'm reminded of just how powerful community is in all its forms.
Book Talks That Hook!
Reader’s advisory is the unsung hero of library work. Not only is connecting young people to books that resonate with their interests, experiences, and identities essential in fostering reading motivation, (which fuels stamina, fluency, etc), but effective reader's advisory yields a multitude of other benefits, too. Stories have the power to build empathy, expand worldviews, and offer comfort or inspiration - things our world seems to be in desperate need of right now. At the heart of this work, librarians serve as vital conduits, bridging the gap between young people and potential books of their hearts, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to discover books that inspire, challenge, and transform them.
While reader's advisory can take a variety of forms, the book talk remains one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. What's more, while a great book talk can appear effortless, the reality is that there's an art to crafting book talks that hook readers. Over the years, I've come to realize that book talking is a very special kind of alchemy that mixes a dash of showmanship with heaping helpings of both authenticity and a focus on the readers whose hearts most need connection.
All of that said, because there currently isn't an easy way to archive chats on Bluesky, I'm using this post as a way to curate some of the resources I shared during our conversation... plus a few other goodies that I found (or have been working on) since. Not all of these are directly related to book talks, but they are all connected to reader's advisory in some way. I hope you find them useful!
Resource Roundup!
This week, I created a number of resources that I created for my Rutgers students - including this infographic.I focus the work of this course on helping my students develop strategies for connecting our most vulnerable readers to books that might serve as touchstones. All semester long, we read each book through the lens of trying to identify its potential "touchstone readers." Then we look at everything from book talks, displays and even cataloging to ensure that these practice are built in a way that make it more likely that the kids who need library most can find the books their hearts most need. Building on the work of Donalyn Miller and JoEllen McCarthy, I created this infographic (which you can download for free) for students to help them further understand the idea of a "touchstone reader."
Another resource I created for my #Rutgers students is this spreadsheet. It was designed to help them think about intentionality when selecting titles for book talks or other RA efforts. The idea being that when you keep a record of the books you use for reader's advisory, the spreadsheet will provide you with data to use to improve your practice and advocate for your community. This link will force you to make a copy. Note: this example is for MS but can be adapted.
Many years ago, I was asked to lead a day long district PD for librarians in upstate NY - something I've done many, many times. During this particular trip, however, part of the day was devoted to creating staff READ Posters - like those sold by ALA - but featuring school and district staff posing with books. I'll never forget when the person coordinating my visit said, "I won't ask you to make one, because I know you hate READ posters!" I was taken aback, because I definitely do NOT hate READ posters. One of my prized possessions is a READ poster featuring my favorite band in whole world (REM). I DO, however, think that READ posters are largely ineffective as a form of reader's advisory, because they smell a lot like bologna. Kids know when those posters are performative, so... instead of traditional staff READ posters, (in which adults can just hold up a book they've never read!) I prefer "currently reading" signage. At my previous school, kids were challenged to ask any adult in the building what we were reading - and we had to be ready with an answer! There are a zillion of these templates out there , but here are some that I created and that you can download for free.
I 've written before about my love of creating book related Connections Style puzzles for readers. In this post, I share how to make them along with a scaffold I created for helping kids make their own! This would be such a fun way to frame kid created book talks!
In this post, I share the chatterbox I created to go along with Adam Gidwitz's new book Max In The Land of Lies. This is another fun activity that kids could create to scaffold book talking! (I keep saying that I am going to write a post about creating these chatterboxes - I promise to do that soon!)
Since the next couple of resources I shared were related to my pal, Brad Gustafson's, Book Talk H.E.A.T. protocol, here's a video who made explaining his ideas.
Here's a the book talk HEAT poster that I created. Download it for free here!
And here's a the book talk HEAT planning document (for students!) that I created. You can download this resource for free here!
Shelf-talkers are also a fun way to use your physical space for reader's advisory - and they have the added benefit of feeling more authentic than a READ poster! I created these TikTok inspired shelf-talkers. Books are recommended on a FYS(shelf) instead of an FYP(page). You can download them for free here. (The first page contains an example) You might also want to checkout the shelf-talkers that Kelsey Bogan creates and shares on her blog.
This post is so old now, that it featured a desktop computer + scanner that I MacGyvered together as a QR Code Reader back in the day... BUT the use of QR codes to connect readers to student made book talks, reviews and trailers is still awesome!
Bring On The Books!
We ended our chat by sharing books that we love to book talk. I loved reading about all the books people love sharing. Here are a few 2025 titles that I've enjoyed book talking in 2025!
Giving-up Billionaires For Lent (and beyond!)
As I mentioned during my last #TLSkyChat recap post, I recently saw a post from Erin Bow on Bluesky in which she said she was "giving up billionaires for lent." Although I am not a religious person, I love the idea of making the commitment to reduce my contributions to platforms owned by billionaires. Put another way, I feel good about committing more of my resources towards small businesses that share my values.
If this resonates with you, I'm sure you can think of plenty of local, independent bookstores and libraries to patronize. Still... please also enjoy a special discount of 20% off any books you purchase (including those related to National Parks!) from my friends at Bookelicious. This is a small company, with a big heart... and I love them! Just use the code JENNIFERLAGARDE when checking out. Note: I do not make any money from the sales, but I am delighted that you get to save some!
#TLSkyChat: Join us. Won't you?
Finally, I hope you will consider joining us for a future #TLSkyChat! We post topics and questions in advance, so checkout what's coming up and make plans to be a part of these fun and informative conversations. I hope to see you there!
