Holiday Break Reading Challenge - What's This All About?

Thank you for stopping by the Holiday Break Reading Challenge blog. As a public school librarian, I look forward to my yearly holiday break - for multiple reasons. Of course, I love spending extra time with family and sleeping in late every morning, but I also enjoy the increased amount of time I can spend reading.

The librarian in me always wants to encourage reading for pleasure and the holiday break provides the perfect opportunity. For that reason, I decided to create the Holiday Break Reading Challenge. Having participated in both, Read-A-Thons and Challenges, you might see something of a blending of the two concepts. Keep reading for detailed information.

1) Anyone can participate. I'm focusing on teachers and students, but if you want to cram a little extra reading in during the holiday season, please join us.

2) The Reading Challenge is designed to be self-paced. I will ask for you to set a goal for the number of books you want to read, but if you don't reach the goal - no big deal. This is for fun.

3) You don't have to provide a list of books you plan to read in advance. You can, but it isn't required. My mood determines what I read so I usually don't stick to a list. If I can't do it, I don't want to force others to do it.

4) The Holiday Break Reading Challenge corresponds with my time off from school. So, it starts on Friday, December 18, 2009 and ends on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at Midnight.

5) I'll have a section set up on the blog for reviews. Please link your reviews of the books you complete during the challenge.

6) Everyday there a new "Challenge" will be posted. These "Challenges" are designed to help you get to know other bloggers, talk about what you are reading, and share information about books. A new Mr. Linky (if I can figure it out) will be used in each post to record everyone's responses.

7) HERE IS THE BIG ONE! At least one prize will be given out everyday during the Reading Challenge. This might be a book, a bookmark, or other swag. No specifics lined up yet.

8) Be sure to follow the Reading Challenge on Twitter. New challenges and prize information will be announced there, too.

9. Grab the button to put on your blog.

So, it's time to decide if you want to participate. A Mr. Linky widget will be added to this post soon. I'll send out a Twitter message to notify people they can sign up. Also, spread the word. Tell your friends. Let's get a large group together to share holiday reading with this season.