K and L: Kelli Malchow and Library Reading Program

K is for Kelli Malchow. Kelli Malchow was one of my high school English teachers, along with my mother. She deserves her own category when it comes to my literary history because she has done so much to influence me to become a more avid reader. Her classes always challenged me to go above and beyond just reading the book. She incorporated unique activities like visual presentations, theatrical productions, and storyboard comic strips into her classroom. We didn't just do typical book reports.

She also helped me continue on with the concept of connecting with characters that I started to do in junior high, but this time around I was able to connect myself to characters out of novels from the 1800's. It takes a great teacher to get her students to start thinking about how they relate to someone from more than one hundred years ago, and she was able to do that. Our class discussions were always sprinkled with aspects of things going on in our actual community in relation to the themes of the books we were reading. I haven't looked at a book the same since taking Mrs. Malchow's classes.

Even to this day, she continues to be a large part of my life in literacy. I see her a lot because my mother and her are more than just colleagues, they're best friends. Every time I see her we discuss what we're reading (or teaching), and we make recommendations for one another. I love having role models like Kelli in my life because they open my eyes to books that I haven't heard of but need to read.

At my college graduation party

L is for Library Summer Reading Program. Throughout childhood I was involved with the summer reading program at my local public library. This was a great experience because it kept me reading throughout the summer. I don't doubt that I would have had no issue continuing to read without this program when school wasn't in session, but the incentive provided by the library definitely helped motivate me.

The program was set up so each book you returned during the summer would earn you a raffle ticket for a prize. The prizes were displayed atop all the shelves, and they were numbered. You would put your ticket in the numbered box of the prize you wanted, and a random draw was performed at the end of the summer to see who won the prize. The prizes ranged from books to toys to science experiment kits. I can remember always putting my tickets in for a book save for the year when they had a large poster for the movie  Titanic (Yes, I loved cheesy romantic flicks back then too).

I believe this program was influential in my growing process as a lifelong learner and reader. So many kids today would rather spend time playing video games in their spare time or watching the latest reality show on television, but programs like this made me want to read when I was their age. I think I read a lot in my spare time today because of this program. It taught me that reading is fun and can be an activity that you do when aren't necessarily required to do it.

I grew up in this library