Follow the Bookstagram Choice Awards Nov 27-Dec 17

Instagram has become one of my favorite places. I’ll admit that I was late to the Instagram craze, but now it is probably my favorite place to be. I love the visuals of classrooms, libraries, bookstores, and books. I get so many ideas for new projects in the library as well as new books to add to the collection.

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There are numerous bookstagrammers who post pictures and reviews of new and upcoming books. A personal goal of mine has been to be critical of our library collection and be constantly aware of the voices represented in the books on our shelves. Instagram has helped me see many more books than I could ever find alone.

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One of the people I started following is Charnaie Gordon @hereweeread Her posts about the diverse books that she reads with her son and daughter always keep me up to date on books that need to be added to our library. The great thing is that she isn’t the only one. As I follow one person, I discover someone else and suddenly I’m surrounded by people who are passionate about books and diverse voices.

I was so excited when I learned that Charnaie was brainstorming a new Instagram book award list selected by many of the “bookstagrammers” that I admired. I was in disbelief that she wanted to include me as one of the members of the first award selection group. I was honored, intimidated, but mostly inspired. This group of people has poured their hearts into what has become the Bookstagram Choice Awards. Each person chose one winner along with honorable mentions in a variety of categories. The hope is that these categories will represent a diverse collection of voices and communities that serve a wide age range of readers.

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Starting on November 27th, there will be one category announced each day. This will include the winner and any honorable mentions. You can follow along on the newly created Bookstagram Choice Awards Instagram account as well as by following all of the contributors who will post on their individual pages on their assigned day.

Be sure to follow:

I hope you will take time to follow all these wonderful people, celebrate the books that were chosen, and suggest books you would have selected. It’s all in the name of amplifying the wonderful books that exist in the world. Through books, we can better understand and connect with one another in the world. Through books, we can have conversations about what matters and help our world be a better place.