Outside reading has become a lost art — Scituate High School students are slowly straying away from the activity. Determined to make a change and promote reading, SHS librarian Susan Lydon and English teacher Paul Scavotto created The Principal’s Book Club. The club offers students a chance to win awards for reading books outside of school.

“If we can create an opportunity to read more by reading with others for a common goal, it’s wonderful,” said Scavotto.

Participating in the club is simple: Students pick from an official book list that includes everything from classics to young adult books and then fill out a form about the book to get an award. Scavotto and Lydon recognize that students prefer to have a choice in their literature, and they wanted to highlight that members of the club can choose their books from a variety of genres.

The highest awards are broken into three tiers: gold, silver, and bronze medals. Reading 30 books earns a gold medal, 20 books a silver medal, and 10 books a bronze medal.

Unlike other book clubs where you meet and discuss, The Principal’s Book Club only asks for the form verifying that you read the book, and to sign up for the group’s Google Classroom. However, they encourage students who are motivated to read–as well as students looking for additional motivation to read–to gather in the library.

The Principal’s Book Club gives students, especially seniors, the chance to shine. If you win an award, it looks great on a college application and can be a useful conversation topic in college admission interviews. A lot of colleges want to know their applicant’s personality, and books are a great way to reflect your passion.

Students interested in joining the Principal’s Book Club can get a head-start this summer. According to Lydon, the Scituate Town Library and the Scituate High School library are promoting the program: “We were thinking about having students be able to check out books from the Scituate High School library over the summer, so anyone could continue to read and participate in the book club,” she said.