East Nashville Pilot Program Fall 2021
Nashville Book Connection Pilot Program
HOW IT WORKS
Your donations go toward buying new and very gently used books children want to read--books about space, books about animals, books about feelings and identity and family, books with mirrors for kids to see themselves.
As we continuously curate our collection, we work with elementary Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) partners to get engaging books to each and every student we can. For some, we deliver a collection of books for students to choose from. For others, we rely on teacher input, student feedback and our team’s knowledge of children’s books to hand-pick a specific text for a specific child. In each and every partnership, student agency and voice are an essential part of the process.
Each partnership runs for 6 weeks. Students pick one book a week to take home and keep forever and ever.
Mobile Book Carts
Our mobile book carts allow students to interact with books (and book lovers). NBC Team members manage mobile book carts during classroom visits or at the end of the school day and work with students to find their books. From these carts, students pick one book a week for six weeks to take home and keep.
Typically, volunteers man mobile book carts at the end of the school day at various pick-up locations. From these carts, students pick one book a week for six weeks to take home and keep.
Curated Book Bags
The NBC team delivers curated books directly to classrooms based on personalized input from students and their teachers. Each book is specifically chosen for individual students
Interactive Teacher Platform
In order to best connect students with books they’re excited about, we invite their teachers to help. Teachers can view NBC’s collections in our online teacher portal and let us know what types of books/topics their students enjoy. Teachers are also invited to give ongoing input throughout the partnership as student needs/interests change so that we can best match students with their new books.
Personalized Book Notes (part of Curated Book Bags)
“Dear Reader, You are so lucky to meet Ada Twist! She is a little girl with BIG questions--all the whys, whats, and hows of the whole world! She is curious to figure out the answers. What are you curious about? Is there a mystery you want to solve? Ada Twist keeps asking and doesn’t give up!”
While our mobile book carts allow for one-on-one conversations between students and our NBC team, our curated book bags build in that interaction as well. Every student who gets an NBC book from our curated book bags will also get a personalized handwritten note from an NBC team member.
Reader-to-Reader Cards
We know the value that comes from kids connecting with other kids. In addition to having characters and experiences our readers can identify, each NBC book includes a message from another elementary student reader in Nashville.
“I love reading because I feel calm when I’m doing it.”
“Reading is important to me because it gives knowledge and that needs to be shared.”
“I hope you enjoy this book!”
Interactive Student Bookmarks
We know the value of students knowing their opinion matters. Student agency and voice are central to the NBC model. Our interactive bookmarks allow us to know what students think of their NBC books, what book requests they may have, and if they shared their reading experience with a family member or friend.
Measuring Impact
We measure impact as best we can. Each book has an interactive feedback bookmark inside. We ask students to return their bookmarks once they have had some time with their books. This information allows us to not only determine which books are successful with students but also which students are engaged by the feedback process.
Next Steps
We are always working to gather additional data to better understand what home readership looks like and to what extent NBC's pilot has moved the needle--at home and at school. Through building relationships with faculty, staff and students, we learn volumes from each school partnership.
How You Can Help
There are two ways you can help impact literacy at home, book by book. Donate money or donate books. Explore the links below for more details.
