Required reading lists. Yes or no?

Earlier this week, the folks at New Hampshire Public Radio hosted Natasha Vargas-Cooper and Nick Ripatrazone for a debate on the High School Required English List. In addition to airing the debate, they also polled their staff and listed for each on their website 1) their high school, 2) their favorite and least favorite assigned books, and 3) what they felt should have been required.

frustrated-student1

I love this idea because it’s a way to introduce (or re-introduce) your staff to customers. Here’s how to accomplish this, in manageable steps:

  1. Poll your staff.
  2. Write a lead in (or steal the one above), and post on your webpage.
  3. Send a link to your piece through Twitter. Copy: “Are high schools stunting readers? [@bookstore] staff says… [shortlink]”
  4. Post a link on your Facebook page. Copy: “[bookstore] staff weighs in on required reading debate. What do you think?”

If you have the capability of posting staff images with their answers, that’s a great way to help customers put names with faces.

Beth Golay

Beth is a reader, writer, marketer and Books & Whatnot founder. Even though she knows better, she's a sucker for a good book cover and will positively swoon if a book is set in appropriate type. @BethGolay