School Librarians are Reading for Pleasure campaigners – and a must for every school and their library
By Lauren Chatley, School Librarian
At the recent School Library Association weekend course, I attended a brilliant talk by the formidable Teresa Cremin, who touched on the work that the Open University are conducting into Reading for Pleasure (1), and how this can be measured, and indeed what the phrase itself means. In short, Reading for Pleasure means reading for choice. It means having the freedom and time to browse reading material, being exposed to a wealth of diverse and inclusive resources (not to mention material that is relevant), being encouraged to speak – formally and informally – about reading experiences, and ultimately developing a lifelong enthusiasm for an activity that can have incredibly positive health benefits (2).
Those that already work in schools will have an acute awareness and appreciation of their most expensive resource – time. Aside from facilitating academic pursuits within the classroom, our schools are having to evaluate and expand their pastoral efforts, particularly in light of ongoing research into the mental health of children and young people (3). There is a continued and desired need to provide a wealth of extra-curricular activities so that students benefit from a well-rounded experience, and so the question is then asked – what time is provided for engaging our young people with reading? Or – perhaps more bluntly – whose responsibility is it?
On the face of it, the second question here as to responsibility would feel relatively easy to answer – you cannot build a reading culture without having a shared responsibility throughout school staff. But as mentioned, these very same (teaching) staff are already time-poor, and despite best intentions, a crammed curriculum, particularly in secondary schools, leaves little room in lessons to discover books that do not have a direct link to syllabus (one of the reasons why it is so important to provide a diverse and inclusive curriculum, but in the interest of keeping to point, I’ll avoid digressing.) There are of course loads of amazing educators in our sector that make room for these conversations come hell or high water, whether this be during breaktimes or in the snippets of time between lessons. But this is nowhere near enough time to really assist students in their discovery of reading for pleasure.
To truly foster reading for pleasure, schools have to create opportunities within a space that is recognised by the school community as safe and welcoming to all. Opportunities can take the form of: book clubs, challenges with reward incentives, student volunteering, research and information skills lessons, film nights, poetry evenings, lessons brought to the school library with the sole focus on books, events linked to books – and events not linked to books, and much more. So far in my career, I have found that hosting events with no direct link to books have been pivotal to increasing student numbers in the library, and with that a heightened interest in the space they find themselves in.* It is so much more difficult – though not impossible – to engage with students without face-to-face contact. Some of my most meaningful conversations as to why a student chooses not to read have taken place in these opportunities provided, and there is a personal sense of job satisfaction when a student decides to try reading a book you’ve recommended – even more so when they return said book and ask for more recommendations.
If it is not already clear by now, it should be when I say – very little of what I have written about can be achieved without having first) a dedicated space to call a library and second) a professional librarian to run this space. It cannot be underestimated what a difference these two things can make, as highlighted in Cressida Cowell’s ‘Life-Changing Libraries’ project (4). A librarian has the ability and means to pull together the work of a school, to celebrate reading achievements on any scale, and to put into the hands of young people literature that can make a difference. We are a positive force to challenge engagement of literature across the school and drive new initiatives forward. We are tools at a school’s disposal to plan and prepare events and activities, and schools can feel confident with a school librarian in house that there is at least one person who is truly passionate about reading and has sharing this enthusiasm high on their agenda. It is clear by listening to and experiencing the work being done by fellow librarians in other schools, that those who do not prioritise investing in this life-changing human resource are all the poorer for it. We are reading for pleasure campaigners, and a must for every school and their library.
*if looking for ideas and inspiration, I cannot recommend highly enough Lucas Maxwell’s Portable Magic Dispenser!
You can follow Lauren on Twitter @MissChatley. Lauren provided this blog as part of our partnership with the School Library Association.
References
1. Open University. Reading for Pleasure Pedagogy [online] [Accessed 28 July 2022]. ↩
2. C. Clark & A. Teravainen-Goff, 2018. Mental wellbeing, Reading and Writing . National Literacy Trust. ↩
3. Lifestyles Team, NHS Digital, 2020. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England , 2020: Main Report. ↩
4. C. Millar, E. Brown & BookTrust, 2022. Life-changing Libraries. BookTrust. ↩
Lauren’s (current) Top Five
The Arrival, by Shaun Tan
ISBN: 9780734415868
Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green
ISBN: 9780141346045
The Ivory Key, by Akshaya Raman
ISBN: 9781471410734
The Weight of a Thousand Feathers, by Brian Conaghan
ISBN: 9781408871546
Allies, edited by Shakirah Bourne & Dana Alison Levy
ISBN: 9780241505953