Mother-Daughter Book Group Page
By Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 10/1/1998
So far, I've avoided featuring sites from my own library. But our new mother-daughter book group site at the Multnomah County Library in Portland, OR,(www.multnomah.lib.or.us/lib/kids/mdbg.html is worth an extended look. The site's airy, simple design, along with its helpful suggestions for those who want to start their own book group, prompted me to select it as the SLJ Online Library Web Site of the Month.
The site is being developed by youth librarian Katie O'Dell Madison(katiem@nethost.multnomah.lib.or.us). Madison, inspired by stories in the media about mother-daughter book groups, started her own group for middle school-aged girls and their mothers at our Midland branch in March. Madison hopes to share her enthusiasm for book groups by creating a site that makes it easier for other libraries to establish similar programs. The site offers sections on the group's future book choices, past discussions, "Girl Power Resources," links to other book groups, and a section on starting your own group.
This site also serves as a good model for established book groups that want to create their own sites. Currently, Madison is using the site to prepare her group for a visit by Virginia Euwer Wolff, author of Bat 6 (Scholastic, 1998). She set up links to the author's home page and to sites related to the book's 1940s setting.
Madison has already been contacted by librarians interested in starting their own groups. She hopes to hear from many more.
-Walter Minkel (wmink@teleport.com), Multnomah County (OR) Library School Corps Technology Trainer
