A bead embroidery bookmark from an old Nordic Needle Bookmark Challenge collection.

The Monday “What have you done lately?” accountability post, where I announce my Needle and Thread: Stitching for Literacy program promotion goal for the week and fess up on last week’s goal.

Last week my single goal was to firm up plans for a local event.

We’re still not there.

In other news, someone asked how, exactly, we use bookmarks to encourage reading.

In general, I don’t want to dictate how libraries and schools use the bookmarks they receive. Librarians and teachers have different needs, interests, goals, and programs. I’m confident each will choose a good use for the bookmarks they receive.

That said, here are some scenarios I imagine:

One of us stitches a bookmark for a kid or anyone learning to read. We show it off and say, “It’s yours when you’ve read three books.”

There. We’re encouraging someone to read. Really, it can be that simple. Think of the impact if we all did this.

On a larger scale, maybe someone stitches five bookmarks for a class. That’s not enough for every kid, but those five bookmarks can be used to motivate every kid. Let’s hold a contest: for every book a student reads, s/he gets one entry into a drawing for the bookmarks. Slower readers can be allowed to read shorter books. Everyone gets a shot at winning by reading.

On a still larger scale, maybe Accents, Inc. collects 100 bookmarks for a local library. Now, the first 100 kids who complete the summer reading list earn a bookmark.

Can you think of some more ways to use our bookmarks to motivate and reward reading? I’m putting together a list of suggestions.

My goal for this week is to send individual emails to past participants who have not answered the question as to whether or not they’re participating this year.

Psst. And you want to know what else I’m doing? I’m laying out patterns/instructions for two new bookmark designs. Yay! At least one will be released on Feb. 14, maybe both.