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Blind Date With a Book

21 February 2019
Zjaya D, Allard ‘19; Photo by Asha U, Hope ‘13
Valentine’s Day isn’t everybody’s favourite day of the year. Some people greet February 14th with love and excitement, while others despise its arrival, and can’t wait for it to end. As a kid, Valentine’s Day was happy and stress-free, but as you get older, the connotation of the day, as well as its expectations, begin to change.  This is why Ms Hanley and Mrs. Mais in the Learning Commons have re-invented not only Valentine’s Day, but the entire month of February, to celebrate a special kind of love: the love of reading! For the month of February, Ms Hanley and Mrs. Mais have given us the opportunity to take advantage of the “Blind Date With a Book” promotion, an exciting way to fall in love with new books. The way this works is there are multiple shelves in the Learning Commons where books are wrapped up in brown paper, so nobody can see the cover. There are words or phrases written on the wrapping paper with a hint of what kind of book you may be choosing, with keyword hints such as “Mysterious”, “Thrilling”, “Heartbreaking” or “Exciting”. After reading the short descriptor on the wrapping paper, one can choose a “date” and sign it out. The most important rule that Ms. Hanley and Ms. Mais have given during this promotion is “No peeking! Do not unwrap until you can take the time to hang out with your date”.  This is my favourite month of the year when it comes to reading, because it encourages students to find a book for themselves to read and enjoy on their own, giving us some choice, which we often forget to do when we focus on assigned reading materials for different classes. Personally, I love to read, and I have never been disappointed by the books I have read through “Blind Date With a Book”. Every year, both Mrs. Mais and Ms Hanley dedicate hours to choosing a variety of books that will appeal to all levels of readers with different interests, wrapping them up, and writing enticing hints on the packages that highlight the best aspects of the book. Mrs. Mais says it’s a way to great date which offers “all the excitement with none of the awkward conversation” and it also allows people to choose a book based on a description of the content, rather than “judging a book by it’s cover”.  Everyone in the Brentwood community is encouraged to go to the Learning Commons for the rest of the month to escape reality and go on a “Blind Date With a Book”! Zjaya D, Allard ‘19; Photo by Asha U, Hope ‘13

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