2.15.2016

Make a Classroom Library - of eBooks


Last year we began our eBook journey (and I never looked back). To date, we have about 150 carefully selected titles - both fiction and nonfiction and we're adding a bunch more this month in preparation for our literature circles project. Most of the titles I purchase are student or teacher requests. They get used for the project, and then the just kind of...don't. 

But sure enough, every time I show a kid MackinVIA, I get comments like, "Whoa! I had no idea we had this!" or "Are you kidding!? That's beast!" or "That's legit". (Middle school here...if you couldn't tell).

And as they scroll through the titles I see them favoriting 5 more titles. It's not a matter of kids loving VIA - they do. It's a matter of keeping it at the front of their minds when they're looking for a book. I guess it's just ingrained in them to think physical book when they are looking for something to read.

I needed a way to remind kids about MackinVIA aside from the many times I've told them before. But I get it - they're middle schoolers. When they come to the library and get to pick their seats, they're totally engrossed in the boy that sat next to him rather than the awesomeness I'm telling them.

So - time to get creative!


In case you didn't know, Mackin has these awesome FREE eBook shelf markers. You can get them made customized to your collection (with title and cover art) sent to you as a PDF or they can print them for you. We decided to print ours ourselves. We printed them on card stock and laminated them. 

Image courtesy of mackin.com
When I originally printed them, I had intended on using them as pictured above. I was hoping that kids would see the shelf marker for a book that was checked out and turn to the eBook without leaving disappointed. 

It just didn't work. The shelf markers were getting mistaken for bookmarks and the ones that weren't taken were all over the floor. That ended quickly. The book the kid wanted was checked out and they would say, "It's okay, I think my teacher has it in her classroom library."

Then it hit me! 

I was advertising eBooks in the wrong spot. The magic of ebooks is their convenience and portability. So I should make it as convenient as possible to access them. 

Instead of disposing of our eBook shelf markers, we actually had 50 sets printed (yeah...7,500 eBook shelf markers). God bless my library aide and my library helpers for cutting and laminating them all. Oh, and hole-punching them. Why hole punch?

Because of THIS:


We put them on keyrings! And we're giving them to every teacher in the building. It's going to be EPIC! Kids can now "browse" our eBook collection without even having their device. Once they find a title they want, they simply scan the QR code and their directed straight to the book. BAM!

We also made this handy little poster for the teachers. They can hang it next to the eBook keyring or anywhere in their classroom. The QR code on this poster directs to our MackinVIA homepage. 


Obviously I'm a little biased, but I think this is genius at it's best.


I had genius like this once before. That is when I attached a shovel to my son's power wheels. I really think I'm on to something with that one. 



Want to get your hands on your eBooks shelf markers? Reach out to your Educational Sales Consultant. They'll get the specs you want and send you over a PDF file of your shelf markers.

Looking for other ways to promote your eBooks? Check out Mackin's resource page - they have a load of bookmarks, posters, flyers, table tents, stickers, etc. to promote your eBooks.


Heather