Ideas for Running a Favorite Book Contest Compiled by Marie Orlando, Youth Services Coordinator, Suffolk County Library System

1. After summer reading club reporting is finished but before charts and certificates are returned, attach a ballot to chart inviting children to vote for their favorite book from the list on their chart. Have ballot box in he library and set a date by which ballots must be cast. Post a list of the winning books and/or produce a bibliography of titles which received one or more votes. If you return charts at the end-of-summer event, have children vote then and there, then leave ballot box in the library for a few weeks for those who came in to pick up their charts and certificates after the party. On ballot include grade so that winners may be broken down by grade range, e.g.: favorite books for preschool; K-3; 4-6.

2. Develop a list of books (for each grade range if you like) from which children can vote for their favorite You will need multiple copies of titles on the list so you might want to tailor your list based on books you have or can get in quantity. (Use system holds for this purpose.) Have a ballot box in the library until first week of school. Dispense ballots from Juv. Reference Desk to limit stuffing of the ballot box. Decide whether children can vote more than once, e.g., each time they come into the library, or only once, in which case you'll need a mechanism to limit voting such as a sign-in. This could get cumbersome.

3. Set up a display of books with 2001 copyright dates (your "new" books shelf) and advertise a favorite book contest when children may vote for any book published in 2001. Use same voting procedure as in (1) above.

4. After children have listed a certain number of books on their chart (5?), allow them to nominate a title for a favorite book contest. Nominate titles need not be on child's list. Scan covers of nominated books and display them on a bulletin board. (This may be questionable from a copyright standpoint.) Have balloting take place after summer reading club is over with a deadline of the first week of school. Dispense ballots from Juv. Ref. Desk. Consider letting kids vote as often as they come into the library.

5. Develop a list of your favorite children's books (fiction, non-fiction, picture books, genres, etc.) that you wish parents would read and run a parents' favorite book contest. Post list prominently and set up a display of titles from the list. Dispense ballots from Juv. Ref. Desk. If you get parents excited about reading children's books this summer, think about running a parents' summer reading club next year