Books in the Wild programme

Waitakere secondary school students are on the hunt for a good read.

Year 9 and 10 students across the city are invited to register for Books in the Wild 2008, an innovative teen literacy programme run by Waitakere Library & Information Services.

In the first week of September, 450 popular teen titles will be released into Waitakere secondary schools and students encouraged to take up the challenge to hunt down, read and register the titles online, before releasing the books into ‘the wild’ for others to find and continue the process.

Each book contains a unique identifying number, and individual students can only register each of the 10 titles once.

Titles included in the programme are a mix of non-fiction and fiction, such as Northern Lights, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Reaching the Summit. Works by New Zealand authors, such as Maurice Gee, also feature. Books in the Wild titles from 2007 can be re-released this year.

“The programme aims to generate excitement about reading among teenagers and encourage them to read and enjoy good quality literature,” says Waitakere Library & Information Services’ Children’s and Teens’ Librarian Robert Baigent.

“The online registration process is also designed to make young people aware that the library is about more than just books and magazines. Libraries offer DVDs, CDs, games, study guides and other resources as well.”

Trialled at a limited number of schools in 2007, Books in the Wild proved extremely popular among the more than 200 teens who took part.

Books were found in a range of wild places from parks and remote bus stops to school grounds and on public transport.

Of the 180 books released last year, most were registered two or three times, with the exception of a dozen individual books that were captured between seven and 13 times.

There are some great prizes on offer for Books in the Wild 2008. Each time a student registers a book online, they go in to the main draw for an XBOX 360 Arcade pack.

Other prizes include an iPod Nano for the person with highest number of book registrations and Whitcoulls vouchers for the school with the most Books in the Wild members. Each time a student registers a book online they receive a $5 virtual library voucher to spend at their local library to hire CDs, DVDs and electronic games.

Books in the Wild 2008 runs until November 28.

For more information go to www.booksinthewild.co.nz