Invite the youth in your library, classroom or store
to cast a ballot!
Why should you encourage your students or patrons to participate??
There are so many reasons to encourage your class or patrons to participate in the Readers’ Choice award. The CBSA nominated books are a wonderfully diverse collection of books that were published in 2022 or 2223. The world of YA publishing is exploding with exciting new books. It is a new thought to students that their thoughts and opinions matter deeply to the YA writers. Students know what students like to read and listen to each other. All kids deserve to be inspired to read for pleasure.
The purpose of the CBSA Readers’ Choice Award is to first to increase awareness of recently published YA books among youth, teachers, and youth librarians across the state and second to amplify our youths’ voices expressing which books are important to them.
The poster below explains the CBSA year.
In order to make a CBSA voting station print the following three images: the book nomination flyer, the double VOTE poster and the ballots.
To make a CBSA voting station, print the flyers and the ballots. Cut the sheet of ballots into eight individual ballots. Place the poster and the individual ballots with a vote envelope to hold the completed ballots in a frequently traveled place in your library, store or classroom. If your library has any of the nominated books, snuggle them next to the voting station. Connect with youth about voting and let them know they can see book talks done by the CBSA student judges by scanning the QR code on the book nominated books poster.
Formerly, the CBSA committee asked students to read at least three books before they voted. Our goal is to introduce these books to your students. The award can support you in your library, store or classroom goals. (You are invited to put the conditions on the award that work for you.) Students can vote for a book because they want to read it; they do not necessarily need to have read any of the books.
Below are some ways that teachers and librarians have connected their students with the award.
- Amanda Pollard, a high school ELA teacher at University Schools in Greeley, took just a few moments to make a voting station in her classroom. (See photo below.)
- Kate Gallagher, a middle school language arts teacher at William (Bill) Roberts School, took all her students to the library where the librarian and Kate talked up the nominated books. Everyone in Kate’s 7th and 8th grade classes voted.
- Kimberly Esbenshade, librarian at McAuliffe International School, is making a Google form that she is embedding in her students’ Schoology account. The kids who wish to, will vote on the Google form and Kim will tally and submit the votes.
- Phoebe Sacks, public librarian, set up a voting station in various branch libraries in Denver. (See below. In the lower middle of the picture, you can see that Pheobe added publishers’ summaries to her ballot station. If you would like those summaries, just ask: Pil2011@partbersin literacy.org.)
After having gathered all your students votes, please, tally the votes and fill out the form below.
Below is a ballot with the nominated books for 2023-2024.