Participants will become more intentional about their own reading lives while exploring research and practical strategies that foster reading engagement and book joy. Through personal reading, reflection, discussion, and hands-on application, participants will develop a personalized Book Joy Starter Kit to cultivate joyful reading communities in their classroom, library, school, family, or community.

This course is appropriate for classroom teachers, teacher librarians, instructional coaches, and administrators who are interested in nurturing lifelong readers and creating communities where books and reading are celebrated.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Reflect on their own reading life and apply those insights to support readers in their educational setting.
• Evaluate research and current trends related to reading engagement, reading motivation, and reading for pleasure.
• Identify and implement practical strategies that foster book joy and cultivate joyful reading communities.
• Select and utilize books and reading experiences that foster curiosity, connection, and meaningful learning.
• Develop a personalized Book Joy Starter Kit that includes strategies and resources for nurturing their own reading life while cultivating book joy within their classroom, library, school, family, or community.