Teens Read with Book Clubs

Written by Therese Stafford, Teacher Librarian, Padua College, QLD

I’ve heard it said that boys don’t read, and there might be many who don’t read. It’s been fascinating to see how reading and book clubs have grown over the past few years at Padua. With changing curriculum for year 11 and 12 in 2019 and many Senior students having a higher than usual assessment load, and added to the 2020 restrictions due to covid, book club attendance began declining with the Senior cohort. With a change of tack and attracting students in Primary and Middle years, Padua has experienced renewed energy with students participating with book clubs. Using some creative ideas with engaging teens, especially teen boys, 2021 has seen growth and attendance rates and a demand for frequency of meetings increase.

The importance of recreational reading can strengthen the bond between children and parents with a shared reading experience. Padua College has begun an extension of book club with our year 7 students and their parents. Our students are quite competitive with everything they engage with, so incorporating a way to encourage reading plus have a hint of competitiveness made the culminating evening a social event with some excitement. The benefits of this have been evident in feedback from the students and parents, with demand for more parent and student book club style events.