Library News

After many years of research indicating Australian teens are reading less and watching screens more, it is fantastic to see a digital platform having a positive influence on young people’s engagement with books. That platform is TikTok, which has been widely credited with making reading cool again through the hashtag #booktok. 

BookTok is a community of content creators who post videos about recent reads they have enjoyed. TikTok videos with this hashtag have been viewed close to 50 million times worldwide and have been influencing book sales globally, from new titles to books that were published several years ago.

Keen to capitalise on this phenomenon, this term the MFG Library has been promoting a range of novels which are trending because of the BookTok hashtag. In addition to the multiple #booktok novels we already had in the Library collection (in print or ebook format), we have also purchased ten of the most popular titles, including ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid, ‘The Love Hypothesis’ by Ali Hazelwood and ‘Six of Crows’ by Leigh Bardugo. These purchases were funded by parent curriculum contributions to the Library fund.

It’s terrific to report that students’ borrowing from our BookTok promotion has been strong, with many of these titles now out on loan as well as having reservations against them (meaning other students wish to borrow them as they are returned.) Consequently, the Library is in the process of purchasing more #booktok novels for students to borrow, such as the dystopian series ‘Shatter Me’ by Taherah Mafi and the 2019 graphic novel series ‘Heartstopper’ by Alice Oseman, which has recently been adapted into a series by Netflix. We gratefully acknowledge parents’ ongoing support of students’ reading through your contributions to the Library fund which enable us to buy the books that so many students want to read. 

Students can request the Library purchase particular books any time by filling in a slip and placing it in the purple box on the Circulation Desk. If you would like to know more about BookTok, please read: What is BookTok?

Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge

The VPRC for 2022 is now on and so far 18 keen MFG readers have signed up. The Challenge is open to all Victorian children up to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 2 September 2022. Students from Year 7 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers. To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge 

If your child would like to ‘take up the challenge’ they can call by the Library at recess or lunchtime to sign up.

Nicolle Brigden

Library Coordinator