Marjan Ghara has built BiblioNasium.com (“where kids flex their reading muscles”), a home and classroom destination for kids to track their daily reading, review books, join reading challenges, win prizes, and make and find book recommendations. A sort of Goodreads for kids, BiblioNasium offers teachers and parents complete control over kids’ accounts as well as enhanced features to share reading lists and bookshelves, see reading levels of thousands of books, and buy books that both kids and teachers have added to their wishlists. In this presentation, Marjan will give us a peek into BiblioNasium, why she developed it, and how parents and teachers are using it today to make kids’ stronger readers.

1. BiblioNasium
Where
Kids
Flex
Their
Reading
Muscles!
Marjan
Ghara
Founder,
CEO

2. The
Parent
Dilemma
Where
to
Start?

3. The
Educator
Dilemma:

4. Books
Are
Like
Shoes?!
The
Challenge:
The
Fit
MaCers
The
Opportunity:
What’s
Trending
MaCers

5. How
Parents
Feel
How
Kids
Feel
How
Educators
Feel
What
happens
to
the
Data?

6. Our
Mission:
To
Promote
and
Support
Independent
Reading
The
BEST
Predictor
of
Reading
Achievement,
Reading
Comprehension,
Verbal
Fluency*
20
min/day
1,800,000
words
1
min/day
8,000
words
90th
percen:le
*Source:
Anderson,
Wilson,
and
Fielding
(1988)
10th
percen:le

7. Digital
Kids
Fit
MaCers
Social
Kids
Trends
MaCer

8. Built
for
Kids
–
Informed
by
Kids

9. Engage,
Excite,
Encourage
Virtual
Bookshelves
Connect
with
Friends
News
Feeds
Exchange
Recommenda[ons

11. Mo[vate,
Measure,
Manage
Challenge
Reward
Track
Report

12. Reading
Levels,
Safety,
Parent
Involvement
Reading
Level
Info
Parent
Challenges
COPPA
Access
to
Educator
Recommended
List

13. How
Children
Discover
Books
Search
Func[on:
By
Title,
Author,
Category,
Reading
Level
Personal
Recommenda[ons
from:
Friends,
Teacher/Librarian,
Parents
Teacher/Librarian:
Required,
Recommended,
Favorite
Lists
Friends:
Book
Shelves,
Favorites,
Reviews
Parent
:
Favorite,
Suggested
Discovery
through
News
Feed
Sugges[ons
from
Coach
C.
Manzee

14. User
Trac[on
Sog
Launch:
June
2012
77,244
Total
Registered
Students
1
Million+
Average
Monthly
Page
Views
7:49
minutes
Avg.
Visit
Dura[on
541,762
Books
Shelved
on
our
site
3000+
/30+
Schools/Countries
Global
Par[cipa[on

15. Book
Data
–
As
of
Dec
2013
70,913
Unique
Titles
on
the
Shelves
26,964
Number
of
[mes
#1
Book
on
the
Kids
list
was
recommended
Top
2
Recommended
Books
By
Kids
To
Kids
Diary
of
Wimpy
Kid
#8
Wonder
Top
2
Recommended
Books
By
Teachers
To
Kids
The
One
&
Only
Ivan
Wonder
Top
2
Recommended
Books
By
Parents
To
kids
CharloCe’s
Web
Wonder

16. Organic
Adop[on
through
Social
Media

17. Future
Community
Engagement
Open
Kids
Reviews
Students
as
Video
Reporters
Book
Video
Trailers
Author
Videos
School
Wide
Reading
Challenges
–
Million
Minutes
Book
Clubs/Book
of
the
Month
Series
or
Genre
Challenges
More
Parents
Engagement

18. BiblioNasium
Where
Kids
Flex
Their
Reading
Muscles
@BiblioNasium
BiblioNasium
Marjang@BiblioNasium.com