“But have you actually made any money yet?” someone said to me.
It’s a question that certainly makes me think about my motivation for what I’m trying to do. And I know that it’s not about the money. So what is my motivation?
I’ve never been a money-oriented person. Yes of course it’s very useful, and the bills need paying, but money has never been my goal for doing anything – I surely wouldn’t have been a school librarian if it was! My motivation is simple: I want to share my passion for reading with as many children as possible. The idea started with bookchat. When I was working in schools, I noticed lots of children who wanted to read, but didn’t know how. Not ‘how’ as in the mechanics of reading, but ‘how’ as in, how to choose a book. Have you ever seen very young children play football for the first time? They’re like bees round a honey pot; they all follow the ball not knowing what to do. It was like that in the library; a child would pull a book of the shelf and a whole group of children would follow that child holding the book, nervously laughing and not knowing what to do or where to look. They simply didn’t know how to choose books and were so uncomfortable with them, it was somewhat heartbreaking. It became absolutely clear: we need to teach our children how to choose a book.
thebookactivist 