Cultivating Lifelong Readers: Fostering Reading Cultures in Schools

As an English teacher, this is what I’m all about! How can reading be fun? How can we encourage students to read for pleasure?

I think developing a school-wide culture requires a three-pronged approach:

1)    Getting staff involved and on board

2)    Creating a partnership with the public libraries in your community

3)    Building a relationship of collaboration (and fun!) with your students

       1) Getting staff involved and on board:

Staff “buy-in” is often the first hurdle in instigating any school-based change, so it can’t hurt to make some collaborative decisions with the staff and involve them in the process – giving them a voice will make them more likely to participate with and encourage their students. As pointed out by Kimmel, there is great importance in building “a foundation of collaboration… [by demonstrating] attention to the curriculum and the teaching preferences of the teachers; they, in turn, recognize the teacher librarian’s value as a collaborative partner.” (Developing Collections to Empower Learners, 35)

Put it in action: Want to give it a try? At your next staff meeting, ask your colleagues (teachers as well as EAs) for their book suggestions based upon their own professional research and what requests they have, centred on their grade levels/needs. Perhaps you could ask admin to carve out some time at the next school-based pro-d to have teachers meet in grade groups and fill out a resource suggestion/request sheet that they then give to you, the TL. The inclusion of staff could even go so far as assembling a library committee, with a sub-committee focussed on physical and digital resources to foster a love of reading. Why not create an open-door request policy that encourages teachers to advise what resources they feel could best support their curricular areas and ask for subject matter they need to support classroom teaching? Some teachers may provide a few different suggested reading lists for their students, either theme-based or ability-based. As the school’s TL, you could supplement these with your own recommended reading lists for literacy support. And voila! Staff feels heard, you’ve got a bunch of useful suggestions for resources and you’ve begun to establish a culture of collaboration built on the promotion of reading.

2) Create a partnership with the public libraries:

The next stage involves reaching out to the wider community; the connections you make with your local public libraries. As a school-based TL, it can help to picture yourself and the public librarian as a team, especially because of the access they provide to services during school holidays and the summer break. The IFLA points out that a partnership between teacher-librarians and public librarians can truly “foster their shared responsibilities for the lifelong learning of all community members.” (IFLA School Library Guidelines, p 11) The public librarians in your area can offer resources and support for families, as well as youth/teen programs, when the school library is unavailable.

We’re lucky in our community to have the City library https://www.nvcl.ca/ and the District libraries https://nvdpl.ca/ (I know, North Van is weird with the whole City/District thing🤷)

Put it in action: Encourage your older students to bring their younger siblings to visit the public library for story times, to explore and check out books, and to obtain their own library card! This would be a great way to instill a love for reading and a familiarity with the library for the students who will be coming through your doors in a few years. Unite with public librarians and have them visit your space to do book talks, promote reading clubs or upcoming events and to even help you orchestrate author visits at their library for class field trips (our public librarian is awesome at this and our students have loved it!)

Here’s one of the children’s department library techs doing an online booktalk video from our North Van City Library:

Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl0VnCaiAwA

3) Building a relationship with students:

This is my favorite, and probably a major reason many of us got into education in the first place – the connection we make with “our kids”💓 Much like involving our colleagues in the process of decision-making, I find the more you put into “playing” with students on collaborative literacy strategies or projects, the more they’re going to view reading as a form of entertainment (and let’s not forget – it is!)

As Vandenbroek puts it; “Projects provide a fun approach to teaching, but also create a bond between the library and the students who participate. Students feel that the library is a safe place, and they are more willing to take risks in reading when there is a firm relationship in place.” (Beyond Books: Bringing Students into the Library Through Creative Programming, p 43) I really like working alongside students whenever I get the chance, and I hope my future SLLC will afford me the opportunity to continue to do so, as building relationships with them is going to be the number one thing that will keep them coming through the door.

Put it in action: New strategies I would like to implement would be…

Ø  creating our own panel of judges for awards (like the Red Cedar award https://www.redcedaraward.ca/) and having students read and review the books. We would then host a voting day to select which of the books we think should win, and compare our choices to the real winners once they’re announced.

Ø  a school-wide DEAR (drop everything and read) combined with a pyjama day (bust out those slippers and stuffed animals!

Ø  hosting a book club at lunch

Ø  have students make visual timelines of their favorite books as children (I did this with my English classes and they just loved reminiscing)

Ø  create a poster of the staff’s favourite books, with photos of staff members holding the book and a mini-synopsis (or create a movie-themed display like the photo below)

 

Image source: https://librarydisplays.org/2018/11/09/little-libraries/

 

Ø  promoting reading contests both through our SLLC and the public library

Ø  promotion of SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) books, “own voices” books, diverse and BIPOC literature and authors à its important that your students can see themselves in the characters, narratives, illustrations and pages.

Ø  explore the art of graphic novels! A lunchtime workshop on visual literacy and illustrations

Ø  guest speakers on reading topics and guest author visits/book talks (these are often great in conjunction with the local public library)

Ø  celebrate banned books (see cool display in the photo below)

 

Image source: https://bannedbooksweek.org/tag/displays/

 

 

Honestly, sometimes it comes down to students discovering an author, genre, series or even a single book that they really really like to engage them in reading for pleasure. So make the time to chat with students about what they’re into and what sorts of things they enjoy reading about!

 

Comment please! What “action items” can you add under my three headings of 1) staff involvement, 2) public library partnership, and 3) building a relationship with students? I’m looking forward to a brainstorm of new ideas to try out!

WORKS CITED

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2015). IFLA School Library Guidelines. 2nd revised edition.

Kimmel, S. (2014). What Should We Collect? And How Do We Select? Developing Collections to Empower Learners.

Vandenbroek, A. (2013). Beyond Books: Bringing Students into the Library Through Creative Programming. Library Media Connection, 32(2), 42-43.

OTHER REFERENCES

Harvey, C. A. (2005). “What Should a Teacher expect a School Library Media Specialist to be?” Library Media Connection, 23(5).

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019). Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology in Education.

Newfoundland Labrador Education and Early Childhood Development. (2018). Extending the Classroom: The Library Learning Commons.