Amar & Akbar Meet Dewey

This game will teach your young patrons where to find books on different subjects in the library using the Dewey decimal system. Give your students each a copy of a guide to the Dewey decimal classification system so that they may reference it throughout the activity. The scenario is that two boys, Amar and Akbar, knocked over a cart of new books and the librarian expect them to help her organize them so that future readers can find them. Students will write down the order of the books in question as well as where they would fall in the Dewey decimal categorization system.

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Get Caught Reading

This school-wide activity encourages students to read during their free time. Make an announcement to the school that the library will be giving out coupons and gifts to students who are caught reading by the librarians during the day. Students can be anywhere in the high school and be in the midst of reading to receive their prize. The prize can be a gift certificate or a coupon to the student store. The librarian can then take a picture of the student to add to a collection of students who were caught. If the prize is worthwhile, this may convince students who would not normally read to pick up a book and begin reading.

Library Scavenger Hunt

This activity is for your students to better understand the library and to see all that it has to offer. Divide your students into several different groups in an effort to finish a library scavenger hunt first. Give each group a list of ten different items they need to find or list. Some examples of items on the scavenger hunt can be to “Introduce yourself to the librarians and list their names on this sheet,” “List three bound magazine titles and explain what bound magazines are” and “Locate and list a reference book that represents one of your interests”. The first team that answers all the questions correctly wins a prize. All the groups learn a lot more about the library than they knew before.

Clues lead from book to book, from section to section in a random way.

Create an outdoor reading space

A reading space outside the library, in the campus, created by the students, with some seating and activity areas.

Open Library Day

Organize an Open Day in your school library and invite parents and other members of the local community. Have students demonstrate the online catalogue, computer-based services… or show new books or other resources.

Adopt a Shelf

A group of students will adopt a shelf in the library. During library periods they will arrange the books properly and literally ‘look after’ the shelf. Their names shall be displayed on the shelf

Making shelf guides and labels for the Library

Helps to understand the library classification and shelf arrangement. Boost creativity.

Illustrations from story books

Students will make illustrations for a selected story.

Making a map of the Library

Students will draw map of the library in detail. Let them to suggest better designs.

Interview a Reader

A good reader will be on the ‘hot seat’. Let others ask questions on anything related to his/her reading.

Preparing Article Index

Tell them first how to index an article. Periodicals/journals/newspapers are given to students find articles and index them.

Book Auction

One set of children extols the virtues of the book they have read and enjoyed, to a younger group or to a set of their own class. They do this in the style of an auctioneer. No money transaction involved.

Go places

Groups of students are given with atlases. Ask them to select any place in the world they have heard about and would like to visit. They can be taught to go to the index, locate page number and coordinates. Let them to use left hand for ‘latitude’ and right hand for ‘longitude’ and make the fingers meet when they find the place. Supplement the activity with wall maps and globes.