Most English teachers will tell you, "Kids just don't read like they used to." I disagree. Recently my high school treated students who passed all classes with a trip to Stonebriar Centre. Upon arrival, a large group flocked straight to Barnes & Noble, where they stayed until the bus ride home. On the bus, they exchanged books and discussed favorite authors. If high school kids are willing to dish out $17 on books at the mall, then why isn't a room the size of a basketball gym full of books free of charge appealing to them?
from Give me a reason to go to the library by student Andrea Drusch in the Dallas News, Saturday, September 29, 2007. (Thanks to Mary Ludwick for sharing this on LM_Net.)
School library media specialists, are we listening or simply going into a defensive/reactionary mode?
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 10:29AM 
Reader Comments (8)
I've only really watched a couple of school liibrary media specialists in the last bunch of years. And only one (who also happens to be my wife) for most of that. What I have seen is that a library media person who spends the time to read books appropriate to their audience and take the time to listen to the interests of students so that they can recommend books will see a huge increase in readership and use of the library. A few good book talks to a class and books fly off the shelves. Matching a child to the first book in a series that grabs their attention means that they come back until the series is finished. It's not all that hard to get kids into the library - you just have to recommend good books that match their interests. Not that match the teacher's interests - the students. Once you hook a child on reading, regardless of the subject for the most part, good things follow.
Hi Alfred,
This is certainly a good example of something a school library can offer that a bookstore can't.
Thanks for the comment,
Doug
Well, at the risk of sounding defensive, I'm not sure what school library Ms Drusch is describing, but it sure ain't mine. I'm a teacher-librarian at a high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and my experience has been nothing like the one she describes. In my school of 700 students, I've got a bank of about 25 computers that get constant use, students that come in to gossip as much as they do to study, and a social atmosphere that has been described as the "hub" of the school. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
I would love to say that this is all my doing, that I'm some maverick who's blazing a trail into a new millenium, but the truth is the library was like that before I got here. And I know I'm not alone.
It's too bad that Ms Drusch's experience has been a negative one. For her sake, and for the sake of her fellow students, I hope her case is an isolated one.
I have on occasion pulled books from the fiction area, and set up table displays of certain genres (like, horror, romance, mystery, comedy, award winners, best sellers, etc.) And then invited my English classes to come and browse the library--book store style. We even once did a "coffee-house" and served coffee or hot cocoa and cookies in one section. I can testify to the skyrocketing of books circulating during the week we do this, and the kids always want to know when we will do it again. I am leery of making this a permanent change, and I have read with interest the schools that have dropped the Dewey arrangement. But then what would be the purpose of the catalog? Still, i know it was successful b/c kids would come in, walk me to the table where a book was, and ask for help in finding it on the shelf (no name, no title, no author, just that it was a certain color, had __ on the front, and on the table of ___ books.) That is powerful in itself, and is also a teachable moment about why we do use that catalog, and how helpful it can be.
Thanks, Cathy.
I have a collection of experiences about "coffee shops in the library" if you are interested at:
http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2005/10/13/a-jolt-of-java-your-library.html
All the best,
Doug
Hi Mike,
I don't think you sound defensive at all. Ms Drusch's experiences would be different in our schools as well - at least in a matter of degree!
Thanks for writing in,
Doug
Let me assure the commenters to-date that such libraries do exist. In my state, there are some dynamite and progressive school library media specialists and programs and then there are some exactly as Andrea described.
In the last few months alone, I have talked with one school librarian who believes that it is her job to fill the library with only classic literature for the students' edification, even if they don't read it, and other who will not work with teachers because he is a librarian and teacher support is "not what librarians do." Neither of these people are over 50.
With a number of these jobs on the line here, I'm wondering if we shouldn't let extinction occur among the people who don't see crisis as an opportunity for evolution.
The battle for the hearts and minds of students is key to the continuing survival and utility of school libraries.
Advocacy is getting tricky these days.
Hi Marcia,
I agree, advocacy is tricky! We can't afford ANY bad librarians anymore, I'm afraid.
I appreciate the note. Thanks!
Doug