Libraries as Literacy Leaders
Written by Mali Jorm and Lisette Robey, Teacher Librarians, Melba Copland Secondary School
Literacy is one of the core goals of education, and school libraries are uniquely positioned to provide leadership in literacy promotion to their educational community. Literacy features prominently in many schools’ educational planning, however, the school library may not explicitly be part of the literacy strategy. Research shows that student engagement with recreational literacy or reading for pleasure peaks at the end of primary school and drops off over the high school years (Cullinan 2000), (National Literacy Trust, 2020). These are also the years when students are required to engage with increasingly complex reading and writing tasks. Reading for pleasure is consistently linked to improved literacy outcomes (Krashen, 2004), (National Literacy Trust, 2006), and is a key component of fostering literate, capable students. Reading fiction books has been shown to give higher literacy gains than other forms of reading (Jerrim and Moss 2018). School libraries can be the bridge that connects educational outcomes with enjoyable, student-focused reading.
Promoting reading for pleasure is one of the core goals of a school library and delivers a host of benefits to individual students and the culture of a school. Reading for pleasure contributes to improvements in vocabulary, reading ability, grammar and general knowledge (Cullinan 2000). Ranganathan, the famed founder of Library Science proposed as one of his laws ‘Every reader their book’. Effective collection development in a school library finds a way to deliver something meaningful for every individual student. At Melba Copland Secondary School (MCSS), we have moved to using the patron-driven acquisitions model. This model allows school libraries to build a flexible, meaningful collection that caters to the changing needs of their school demographic. When we evaluate our circulation statistics at MCSS, patron-selected resources are more frequently circulated than staff-selected resources. Around 80% of our fiction acquisitions are now direct patron purchase requests.
Melba Copland Secondary School student Ellie with a few of her book purchase requests.
However, having a beautifully curated collection is not necessarily enough to engage students as readers. Four other key factors can influence student engagement:
1. Time
2. Modelling
3. Community expectations
4. Peer recommendations
Providing time to both read and to explore the school library collection is essential to give students opportunity and space to discover and engage deeply with meaningful texts. Mat Roni and Merga (2019) note that reading engagement is a combination of both a positive attitude towards reading skills and frequent reading practice. Timetabling in scheduled library borrowing lessons for Year 7 and 8 students has more than quadrupled the circulation numbers at MCSS.
Modelling being a reader is beneficial to your students as teachers are key role models of being a successful learner. Factors that make students think teachers like to read include talking about books, being visible readers and reading aloud with characterization (Merga, 2018). Teachers who take the time to model reading during silent reading time, who actively talk to their students about what they are reading and indicate that they enjoy reading exemplify the benefits of being a life-long reader to students.
Creating a whole-school environment where reading is valued and expected fosters a normalisation of reading culture. A cultural change can be slow and difficult to undertake, and requires buy-ins from school leadership, teaching and support staff. A useful stepping stone to help incubate this culture is to talk about it like it already exists. When staff demonstrate that the school prioritises reading, it creates a conducive learning environment for students to follow (Daniels and Steres, 2011). At MCSS we spend a lot of time inducting our new Year 7 students to the school culture and expectations, and this includes using statements such as ‘MCSS loves reading’ and ‘we are all readers here’. Library staff share resources on reading for pleasure to the teaching staff via a targeted LearnPath guide providing links to relevant research and resources.
Leveraging student interests is a powerful way to create both a relevant collection and encourage peer reading promotion. Research shows that students are influenced by the reading habits of their peers (Cooc and James, 2016). Reading is often a hidden or solitary activity, and without opportunities to learn that their peers are engaging in reading students may assume that it does not happen. Miller and Kelley (2014, p.99) highlight the importance of peer reading relationships, as students are more likely to learn about books that they would like to read from other readers. At MCSS we used this information to formulate a strategy that would allow students to recommend books in a way that was easy for them to do and obvious for their peers which books were being recommended. Student recommendations are displayed as a plate at the front of the purchased book, and purchases are featured prominently during ‘book talks’ as part of the Information Literacy program.
Promotion of reading through the MCSS Library is primarily conducted through two programs initiated in tandem in 2018. Both strategies initially targeted incoming Year 7 students and have grown each year to provide a consistent connection for this year group to the library and the MCSS reading culture. The information literacy program and the classroom mini-libraries were designed to increase literacy skills and access to quality reading material, as well as reading time. As indicated by Band (2018), regular library lessons give the Librarian the chance to learn about their readers and their interests. The Information Literacy program is provided for Year 7 classes on a fortnightly basis. This lesson is taught by the Teacher Librarian and covers important information literacy skills in a spiraling curriculum model (Johnson, 2012). In this lesson, students are also provided time to borrow and read. A key feature of the program is the final fortnight of each term when students attend a ‘book talk’ in which the Teacher Librarian shares a variety of new and popular books. Borrowing figures show a threefold increase in borrowing across Years 7 and 8 who attend book talks in the final fortnight of the term.
The classroom mini-libraries, curated by the Teacher Librarian, and purchased over three years, place quality and high interest reading material in the hands of students every day. The collection, which can be borrowed by students, includes many high interest titles to entice students to continue their reading by borrowing sequels and other titles by authors which are held in the library collection. English teachers allocate time in their lessons for students to engage in self-selected, sustained, silent reading, shown to be a highly effective strategy in increasing student reading ability (Ivey & Fisher, 2006; Garan & DeVoodg, 2009). The dual strategies employed at MCSS have contributed to a dramatic improvement in reading culture; borrowing statistics have increased almost fourfold, with sustained interest in reading and borrowing with the year groups that have participated in the Information Literacy program.
Reading engagement is a key element in developing future ready students who have a sense of wonder about learning and who are equipped to engage with and create information and knowledge. Future focused libraries are those with strategies to engage their communities in reading and collaborate with teachers to deliver programs which improve opportunities and access to engaging reading experiences and which foster a culture of reading for enjoyment.
A diverse and vibrant collection of new books will remain a high priority for the MCSS Library including the classroom mini-libraries. The quality of the collection has a direct impact on student learning (Lonsdale, 2003) and having a diverse, current, and vibrant collection (Johnson, 2014) driven by student interest has a significant impact on library use and borrowing. Expansion of the Information Literacy program to other year groups is also of primary concern as consistency in delivery of resources and reading culture are vital in sustaining the growth achieved so far.
Finally, the activities of the library must be a visible contributor, as well as creator, of the school environment and reading culture. Teacher Librarians must know current trends in research, know it intimately (Todd, 2007), and use it to advocate for funding and professional learning to ensure service delivery remains at the forefront of professional knowledge and client need. Collection of data which demonstrates the impact of programs and promotions on reading will play a vital role in advocating for growth in library investment.
Mali will be presenting at the Capacity Building School Libraries Conference Melbourne, 5 & 6 August 2022, come along and say hi.
References:
Band, B. (2018). Do we need library lessons? Schools Catalogue Information Service, Vol 104, https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-104/do-we-need-library-lessons/
Clark, C., & Rumbold, K. (2006). Reading for Pleasure: A Research Overview. London: National Literacy Trust.
Clark, C., & Teravainen-Goff, A. (2020). Children and young people’s reading in 2019: Findings from our Annual Literacy Survey . London: National Literacy Trust.
Cooc, N., and James S. K. (2016). “Peer Influence on Children’s Reading Skills: A Social Network Analysis of Elementary School Classrooms.” Journal of Educational Psychology. doi:10.1037/edu0000166.
Cullinan, Bernice (2000). “Independent Reading and School Achievement.” School Library Media Research: Research Journal of the American Association of School Librarians, Vol 3, 2000 http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites
Daniels, Erika & Steres, Michael. (2011). “Examining the Effects of a School-wide Reading Culture on the Engagement of Middle School Students.” RMLE Online. 35. 1-13. 10.1080/19404476.2011.11462085.
Garan, E. N. & DeVoodg, G. (2009). The benefits of sustained silent reading: scientific research and common sense converge. Retrieved November 3, 2020 from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Devoogd/publication/250055938_The_Benefits_of_Sustained_Silent_Reading_Scientific_Research_and_Common_Sense_Converge/links/5c74f081299bf1268d25bf9c/The-Benefits-of-Sustained-Silent-Reading-Scientific-Research-and-Common-Sense-Converge.pdf
Ivey, G. & Fisher, D. (2006). Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Jerrim, J. and Moss, G. (2019), The link between fiction and teenagers’ reading skills: International evidence from the OECD PISA study. Br Educ Res J, 45: 181-200. doi:10.1002/berj.3498
Johnson, P. (2014). Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management. Third Edition. American Library Association.
Johnston, H. (2012). The spiral curriculum. Education Partnerships, Inc. Retrieved November 3, 2020 form https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED538282.pdf
Krashen, S. (2004). Free voluntary reading: New research, applications, and controversies. Paper presented at the RELC conference, Singapore.
Lonsdale, M. (2003). Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement: a Review of the Research. Australian Council for Educational Research.
Mat Roni S, Merga MK. (2019) “The influence of extrinsic and intrinsic variables on children’s reading frequency and attitudes: An exploration using an artificial neural network.” Australian Journal of Education. 2019;63(3):270-291. doi:10.1177/0004944119880621
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, DOI: 10.1111/eie.12126
Miller, D. and Kelley, S. (2014) Reading In The Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys To Cultivating Lifelong Read. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, p.99.
Todd, R. J. (2007). Evidence-based practice and school libraries : from advocacy to action. In Hughes-Hassell, S. & Harada, V. H. (Eds.). School Reform and the School Library Media Specialist. Libraries Unlimited.