What unique role does the school librarian play in literacy education that is distinct from the classroom teacher?
Literacy is defined at its simplest as the ability to read and write. Around the topic of literacy, both the school classroom and school library seem to occupy the same space which is why collaboration between the two is emphasized. But, if both work towards the same goals then it is easy for the administration to see the library as a duplication and thus cut library funding. I wanted to explore what is truly unique about the school library mission in regards to literacy that is not duplicated in the classroom. What I found was that only the library is tasked with advancing pleasure reading with the goal of creating a life-long reader and learner.
In the school environment, no class is actually charged with teaching reading for pleasure. It is not mentioned once in the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, although it is sometimes assumed to be an implicit part of the ELA curriculum. Teachers in the classroom are focused on the strategic fundamentals necessary to actually read and on reading comprehension. Classroom teachers are not mandated to teach children how to love reading and as Merga's study illustrated, the students can tell (Merga, 2016). The American Association of School Library standards recognize that pleasure reading is valuable and do include this goal in standard number four. In the literacy space, school librarians are uniquely mandated to support pleasure reading.
4. Reading is the core of personal and academic competency.
In the school library, learners engage with relevant information resources and digital learning opportunities in a culture of reading. School librari- ans initiate and elevate motivational reading initiatives by using story and personal narrative to engage learners. School librarians curate current digital and print materials and technology to provide access to high-quality reading materials that encourage learners, educators, and families to become lifelong learners and readers.
Pleasure reading increases student literacy scores. We can confidently say that it has been shown that the simple act of reading for pleasure increases a student's literacy scores and writing complexity (National Endowment for the Arts, 2007, Sénéchal et al., 2018). Besides the test score finding, Wilhelm and Smith wrote persuasively about the power teens find in their free reading choices that help them deal with real life. Thus, encouraging students to read for pleasure is a legitimate way to increase student literacy and wellbeing.
School Librarians are positioned to create lifelong readers and to increase pleasure reading by actively building a whole school reading culture and facilitating discovery of new titles with book talks and book lists. Building a culture of reading at a school site is a massive task and one can get overwhelmed even starting to investigate this. My research showed that the initiative is a joint effort from the school site principal, teachers, and the teacher librarian. The National Library of New Zealand offered a fantastic comprehensive guide for schools looking to build a culture of reading at their school (National Library of New Zealand, n.d.). Reading and books should permeate the school at every level while showing that pleasure reading was an intrical part of every adult's day (Barrett, 2019). The Barrett article offered up 25 practical ways from different staff members to build a reading culture.
Student choice in reading material was a main theme in the research on student's pleasure reading that was essential (Reedy et al., 2021). Thus, a worthy investment of a librarian's time is facilitating book discovery with practices like book talks, first chapter Fridays, and creating read alike lists. The remaining sources are practical sources that discuss best practices of these three practices.
In regards to student literacy, school librarians are the only teachers at a school that have the explicit mandate to promote pleasure reading. Pleasure reading has been shown to increase student literacy scores. School librarians should lean into this unique role by promoting a school wide reading culture and facilitating individual book discovery for students.
Annotated Bibliography Criteria
When creating my annotated bibliography I wanted to provide a resource for new librarians from start to finish on the topic of supporting pleasure reading. I included peer reviewed research that defined why this was an important part of the school librarian's role within literacy, offered some resources for how pleasure reading would fit into the more broad school wide approach, and offered links to real actions librarians could take. I am a new school librarian so my resource selection reflects a more generalized approach and the full journey one must take from understanding a new topic to implementation. Special attention was paid to scholarly justification of pleasure reading as we must be ever ready to support our choices. Each one of the three subtopics is a massive subject area and deserves a fuller investigation.
Annotated Bibliography
Barrett, L. (2019, March 19). 25 Ways to build your school's reading culture. We Are Teachers. https://www.weareteachers.com/build-reading-culture/
Schoolwide Reading Culture: Every school, classroom, and school library is at a different level in their journey to building a school reading culture. This site offers 25 project ideas that range from the very small to the grand and includes links to examples.
Hartsell, B. (2019, December 4). Passive readers' advisory. Knowledge Quest. https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/passive-readers-advisory/
Facilitating Book Discovery: Individuals read more when they are connected to the right book. This general article gives an overview of why passive readers' advice is important and some ideas to start.
Merga, M. (2016). “I don't know if she likes reading”: Are teachers perceived to be keen readers, and how is this determined? English in Education. 50(3), 255-269.
School Librarians and Pleasure Reading Justification: This article supports the idea that encouraging reading for pleasure is an important, but often overlooked, way to support literacy instruction. Many teachers are focused only on the fundamentals of reading instruction and comprehension. This article is overflowing with childrens' observations on what specific attitudes and practices actually work to teach how to enjoy reading.
Moss. L. (n.d). What is First Chapter Friday? Language Arts Classroom. https://languageartsclassroom.com/2019/02/what-is-first-chapter-friday.html
Facilitating Book Discovery: First Chapter Fridays is a great way to introduce students to new books. This page gives an overview of how First Chapter Fridays are run and answers practical questions in a classroom setting.
National Library of New Zealand. (n.d.) A School-wide reading culture. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/understanding-reading-engagement/a-school-wide-reading-culture
Schoolwide Reading Culture: This site offers a fantastic introduction to the eight main subject areas involved in building out your school reading culture. This one site has it all and includes research on why a school reading culture is important and also specifics on how the administration, teaching staff, and library staff can all contribute. This site is a great resource for designing an overall program with many stakeholders but beware, one will fall down this rabbit hole of resources. This site also offers a unique perspective on book talks to avoid just plot retelling and lists links to many other great book talk resources.
Pikes Peak Library District. (n.d.) Booktalking Tips. https://ppld.org/teens/booktalking-tips
Facilitating Book Discovery: Book talks have been shown to increase discovery and help students overcome the hesitancy invloved when they jump into an unknown book. This page offers a very generalized and comprehensive guide to book talks.
Reedy, A. & De Carvalho, R. (2021). Children's perspectives on reading, agency and their environment: what can we learn about reading for pleasure from an East London primary school? Education 3-13, 49(2), 134–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2019.1701514
School Librarians and Pleasure Reading Justification: This resource has a full discussion of pleasure reading research and offers a case study in one East London school including results of changes made in the school. A well rounded look at the topic of pleasure reading from the ideological to practical.
Sénéchal, M., Hill, S. & Malette, M. (2018). Individual differences in grade 4 children’s written compositions: The role of online planning and revising, oral storytelling, and reading for pleasure. Cognitive Development, 45, 92–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2017.12.004
School Librarians and Pleasure Reading Justification: This research supports the idea that pleasure reading increases behaviors and skills that show more complex writing in children.
The Reading Tub. (n.d.). Read alikes by audience. https://thereadingtub.org/books/read-alikes-by-audience/
Facilitating Book Discovery: It is actually semi difficult to pull read alike lists off the internet because your library may not have everything or even most of the books included on the list. This is the most complete list of read alikes for middle grade fiction I have been able to find. Most of the read alike lists are geared for teens or adult readers.
Wilhelm, J. & Smith, M. (2016). The Power of Pleasure Reading: What We Can Learn from the Secret Reading Lives of Teens. English Journal, 105(6), 25–30.
School Librarians and Pleasure Reading Justification: Reading for pleasure, especially from popular fiction texts viewed as subpar, is undervalued within our education system. But, it is precisely this type of reading that builds a reading habit and enables students to grow internally. A fascinating article that articulates how important reader's choice is in personal growth and in building a pleasure reading habit.