Hands-On Reading: The Pioneer Book Club

In 2007, the Rockbridge Regional Library began an association with Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden in Rockbridge County, Virginia. Our goal was to create programs that encouraged children to read, while also getting them outdoors to enjoy nature. Bonnie Bernstein and Hannah Klein from Boxerwood helped us to create the Survival Book Club for fifth through eighth graders. The book club featured novels about kids surviving in the wilderness, and gave the kids the opportunity to spend time outdoors learning survival skills. The culmination of the experience was a campout in May, using a shelter we built for ourselves in the woods.