Facet Publishing

Summary

Introduction

In the 21st century, schools in the UK are going through a huge process of change. There are enormous challenges, in terms of the changes to the curriculum and the impact of the financial recession on resources. There are societal changes that the school – and the library, at its heart – must be able to respond to. The impact of Google, and all the online resources that we use daily, are particularly felt, when budgetary constraints mean savings are inevitable. The library, with its vital but often difficult to prove impact, can seem a luxury. This chapter will discuss how in the 21st century the school library is not a luxury, but a necessity: the bedrock, the head and heart of all learning, offering a place of both relaxation and stimulation in the school setting and in the wider community as a whole.

The 21st-century vision for schools, taken from Building Schools for the Future (a UK Government investment programme in secondary school buildings in England) (DfES, 2003), is that:

Schools should inspire learning. They should nurture every pupil and member of staff. They should be a source of pride and a practical resource for the community. They will offer a safe, secure, inclusive and comfortable environment … with improved areas such as dining areas, libraries and entrances and better accessibility and facilities for non-pupil users of the school.

And, as Professor Stephen Heppell (2010), a leader in the fields of learning, new media and technology, stated:

The school library is incredibly important – much more so than in the past. It's a place where everyone comes to share and learn. The evidence continues to accumulate that libraries – and their librarians – lie absolutely at the heart of 3rd millennium learning organisations: a place for scholarship, a place to escape into adventures, a place of discovery, a place to share and explore, a place for deep thought, a place for surprise, and above all else a place absolutely without limits. The best schools have libraries at their centres not as some sad throwback to an earlier age but as a clear and evocative prototype of what ambitious learning might look like in this century of learning.

Summary

Introduction

The Trove Children's Library in White Plains, New York, USA, opened in October 2005. It exemplifies an unusual trend in public library design for children – a theatrical space, more like a bookstore or children's museum. This library model generated a multitude of questions. Namely, what was the point of this particular design? How has it worked? How can traditional library services stand out in a digital world? And, finally, what has technology got to do with it?

A new library, or space within a library, is a huge opportunity to recast your purpose and reinvent your image. When we decided to renovate, so as to expand our children's library, some parents were surprised. It's already so nice, they said – so cheerful, so many books and such wonderful staff. We smiled and told them that it would be even better, and then thought hard about what that would mean. Some of us worry about the future of libraries, reading, cultural literacy and educational attainment. It is easy to see that a bright future in these areas has a logical connection to children who love reading, and who become adults and parents, who continue the cycle. But how do we make this happen? How do we compete in today's world?

Well, first, we reasoned, we have to get, and keep, their attention. Computers and electronic devices rule, and the younger you are, the truer this is, but maybe it is not all about technology. When you are little, it is all about curiosity and discovery, which can happen every which way. When you are little, you depend upon your parents to take you places, and you put pressure on your parents to take you back to your favourite ones. Getting the attention of families in a big way brought us back to our image, as expressed in our name, our appearance and the experience that we offer. It is all connected. We have the best tools –trained professionals and terrific resources – but we are competing with a complex, busy and well marketed world.

And, so, The Trove (definition: a collection of valuable items discovered or found) was born. As our children's manager said, during the decision over whether to take the leap of adopting this new name: ‘We can always be the children's library.’

Summary

Introduction

In this chapter we explore how children can be encouraged to develop a varied diet of reading, through reference to strategies, research findings and the perspectives of children, themselves, on what they think is cool to read. The first half of the chapter looks at the value of diverse texts and discusses what benefits emerge from reading a range of genres. The second half of the chapter looks closely at strategies and factors that influence a child's reading choices.

Why is a range of genres important?

Reading a variety of categories, compositions or styles of writing, in different kinds of literary texts, is important for readers to gain a balanced diet of reading materials. The child's introduction to a range of genres is important, in order to help develop knowledge and wider life experiences through fiction and nonfiction texts, as well as building upon personal, individual interests and experiences. A snapshot of the range of genres available involve stories, books and information texts that include adventure and mystery, science fact and science fiction, historical fact and fiction, contemporary crime fiction, dilemma stories, romance and gothic tales, plays and dialogues, poetry and rhyme, myths, legends, fairy tales, fables and traditional tales, and the media, news and popular culture. Teachers and librarians should provide children with reading experiences by encouraging them to access as many of the genres listed above as possible. For example, if children read and explore traditional tales it encourages them to think about dealing with the big issues in life, such as: Who are we? Where do we come from? How do we deal with life's troubles and difficulties? How should we behave? What is the truth? What is our place in the big picture of things? Cultural beliefs, values or messages can be underlying themes of a traditional tale. Young readers can explore life themes and inner conflicts through literature and, in this way, critical thinking, philosophical discussion and moral decision-making can be developed.

Favourite books, classic tales and historical experiencing

Literature is a powerful medium for communicating ideas, transmitting emotions and finding out about other people's culture, language, religion and life experiences. Meek's (2001) work explores these issues, in her classic text Children's Literature and National Identity.

Summary

Introduction

Libraries have a long and proud tradition of providing services for children. In the UK, a library card is a child's first public expression of independent participation as a citizen in a local democracy; on all other formal papers, a child is an appendage to an adult, but a library ticket carries the child's own name and can be used without adult support. Library staff were also among the first to address the child directly, not their accompanying adult, and the library was established early on as a safe space for a young child to make an independent journey to. It was quite normal, as a child in the early 1960s, for me to make a three-mile bus trip to the library by myself on a Saturday morning, from the age of eight.

When I began working in public libraries in the 1980s, I found a tradition of active intervention in working with children, which was not part of adult library work, until the influence of reader development in the 1990s. Staff saw their role as active and developmental – engaging with individuals and helping them move forward, not just providing materials and leaving customers to find their own way. This meant lots of group activities – reading aloud, craft sessions – as well as engaging with individual children about their reading choices. In many places there was an articulated understanding of an open value system; everyone knew that if a child expressed enthusiasm for a popular format, whether superheroes or pony books, this should be met with encouragement and not disapproval. The approach should always be ‘and have you seen this as well?’, not ‘why don't you read this instead?’

With book issues on the increase and children's publishing booming, should we expect that children's libraries are safe to continue and grow, on the assumption that their place in culture and community is assured? This chapter will argue that radical shifts in thinking and practice are needed, in order to keep children's libraries as relevant and valued in the next 30 years as they have been in the last 30 years.

Summary

Introduction

This chapter will help to provide the evidence as to why libraries are successful at reaching and engaging their communities in reading activities. It presents underpinning theory and research about effective provision and draws on the rich practice occurring in both school and public libraries in the UK and internationally. Perspectives and commentary from library practitioners are included, as they are actively involved in planning and delivering services and resources. Viewpoints from children and young people are also included, as their needs and desires need to be recognized by adults. This provides authentic, rich evidence about the benefits of partnership.

The chapter will discuss popular culture and will examine issues surrounding age and gender, reflecting on the attitudes and specific needs of boys and girls, both at home and at school. The valuing of cultural and linguistic diversity will also permeate the discussions, as libraries need to provide a welcoming ethos and specifically target groups, in order to connect and engage different audiences. As a result of reading this chapter, the reader should be aware of the rights of children to have access to information and resources to support their personal interests, educational attainment and enhanced family lives.

Reading, learning and a life-long love of books

Competence in literacy is essential for a successful life in contemporary society, and it dramatically contributes to people's emotional well-being, mental health and economic success. This section demonstrates how a range of particular skills, a breadth of reading materials, a depth of understanding and positive attitudes are important for children and young people becoming capable competent and active readers. The responsibility involved in achieving this not only lies with the children and young people themselves, but also with parents, teachers, librarians and politicians. Books and other literacy materials, public libraries, schools and school libraries all have roles to play in the successful achievement of developing youngsters who will read for pleasure, for information and knowledge acquisition and for educational attainment. How they engage in the reading process, the materials they access and their developing attitudes to reading are all key elements in achieving competence in literacy.

Summary

Introduction

Libraries today aim to attract children and young people, with a range of services and facilities appealing to the particular age groups. This includes a welcoming physical space, a rich mixture of books, computers and a range of activities and services. According to Lushington (2008, 8), successful children's library design in the 21st century will do the following:

Summary

Introduction

Library and information science (LIS) professionals support learning and teaching in a variety of ways, and this chapter will focus on information literacy (IL) and the key messages that it holds for engaging and influencing policy. Using the Scottish Information Literacy Project as a case study, I will discuss the experience of the project and project partners, in their engagement with IL and their endeavours to influence government policy and the curriculum, based upon my direct involvement in the project, as project officer and researcher. The issues that were faced included the recognition of the term ‘information literacy’ in its own right, as a key life skill at policy level, in the school curriculum and in the role of the school librarian. Key to the success of the project was collaborative partnership and networking, advocacy, and using research and official reports to develop strategies.

The Scottish Information Literacy Project (SILP) started in October 2004 as an innovative national pilot, aimed towards developing an IL framework with secondary and tertiary partners to link to secondary and tertiary education, which, at the end of the project, could be rolled out to other participants. The aim was to produce secondary school leavers with a skill set, which further and higher education could recognize and develop or which could be applied directly to the world of work. Cross-sectoral partnership working was essential to the project's success, and partners were recruited from relevant library sector contacts, and working relationships were established, with a range of organizations involved in lifelong learning and learning and teaching.

Information literacy: recognition/contextualization

The term ‘information literacy’ was coined in 1974 by Zurkowski (Crawford, 2011, 257). The term is still used by the LIS profession, and, in 2004, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) decided that there was a ‘need to define the term in a way that [wa]s understandable by all information-using communities in the UK’ (CILIP, 2004a), stating that in ‘an era of lifelong learning, this effectively means that information literacy has relevance for all ages from primary school to senior citizens’ (CILIP, 2004a).

The CILIP (2004b) definition is: ‘knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner’.

Summary

Introduction

Experience will have shown the readers of this book that a highly literate child is not necessarily a reading child and, similarly, that not every child with reading difficulties will dislike reading. Our work – to develop literacy and to encourage reading – has changed in recent years, in part owing to developments in the educational curricula, and in part rapidly changing technologies. This chapter presents six themes through which to consider the challenges facing libraries and the book trade as a whole, making suggestions as to how both public and school libraries can meet them head on.

Reading, the family and the library

Recently, reading research has broadened in scope to consider the way in which social contexts influence reading ability. It is now widely accepted that the development of reading skills occurs not only in the classroom, but also within social settings, at home and in the wider community. Children and family members combine languages, literacies and cultural practices from a variety of contexts. In many examples grounded in ‘real world settings’, in other words, beyond the school gates, children's learning and their development as readers are supported and, in turn, support those of others, in ways that are not necessarily recognized or understood within the school curriculum (Olmedo, 2004).

The most obvious example of a child or young person's ‘real world setting’ is the family. The phrase ‘family reading’ tends to be interpreted in two ways: first, as family members supporting each other in the development of their literacy skills, and, second, as family members sharing their enjoyment of reading and storytelling.

Unfortunately, a number of barriers have been found to prevent effective family reading. These barriers are described below:

Summary

Introduction

Comics, manga (Japanese comics) and graphic novels are all different kinds of what has been called ‘sequential art’. They can be created for any age group and in any genre. This body of work is best thought of as existing within a structure parallel to that of text fiction, which is equally flexible, being capable of creating very basic and simple material, right the way through to extremely complex and challenging texts. Comics, manga and graphic novels, in addition, may be nonfiction, despite the label ‘graphic novel’, and there are a range of texts, often autobiographical, but not limited to that genre, which may well form part of a core collection. You may also wish a collection to include, for instance, books about comics, such as histories of national schools or genres, ‘how to draw’ guides, academic analysis of the medium or material about specific creators.

Given the way that this is such a complex area, one needs to be aware of the potential of the medium, before building a collection, which is why I have begun with a loose definition (although definitions of this medium are widely debated, as Stegall-Armour (2010) discusses). Not knowing about the scope of the medium can result, for instance, in collections for younger readers, containing material written for older adults. This can occur because of the way that national stereotypes of the medium can dominate one's perception of it. For instance, in Britain, the stereotype dictates humour comics for very young readers, whilst in the USA, it is the superhero genre. Developing your knowledge, then, is the first stage in developing a collection and avoiding common pitfalls, which are created by assumptions about the medium. This chapter will talk about some of the resources you can draw on, in order to develop both your knowledge and a collection.

Where to start

It is possible to build a manga and graphic novel collection in any kind of library, which challenges a skilled reader of any age. It is also true, as with the traditional text-based book, that some work will be useful to support emerging readers, but, as the reader needs to become skilled in multiple literacies, both visual and traditional, it is important to remember that these are not simple texts. Being clear about the nature of the collection you wish to develop is key, as is thinking through location and display.

Summary

Introduction

This chapter will discuss the Government-sponsored National Year of Reading (NYR), held in the UK in 2008. The NYR was designed as a social marketing campaign, and the chapter will provide a description of the planning, promotion and delivery of the NYR, so as to show the attempt to reach specific target groups. The discussion will focus on the role of public libraries as key partners in delivering the campaign. During the NYR, a number of reviews and evaluations were undertaken, and the chapter will comment on findings from a case study in Yorkshire, which used the generic social outcomes framework to look at the impact of NYR in two public library authorities. Views and observations from the library staff involved in the NYR, in the Yorkshire case study, are used to highlight the challenges and successes that were involved in the 2008 campaign. The practitioner voice is important – and this chapter reflects the librarians’ view of their experience in planning and delivering the NYR, as part of outreach work with children and young people.

NYR 2008 – celebrating and encouraging reading

The aim of the first Year of Reading in 1998 was to promote a culture of reading. Ten years on, the aim of the second NYR was to promote reading in the family and beyond and to help build a nation of readers (Thomson, 2009). The government-sponsored NYR campaign was about celebrating and encouraging reading in all its forms, aiming to promote reading in the family and to help to build a nation of readers. Plans for a second NYR were announced in February 2007, and the campaign ran from January to December 2008, with organizations and local authorities asked to pledge and plan their support between January and March. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) commissioned the National Literacy Trust (NLT), with lead partner The Reading Agency, to run the NYR campaign, supported by a consortium of organizations committed to promoting reading. The consortium included Arts Council England, Booktrust, Campaign for Learning, Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, ContinYou, Museums Libraries and Archives Council, The National Youth Agency, NIACE and Volunteer Reading Help.

Summary

Libraries are treasure houses of stories, poems, essays, from every country in the world and from all times, and literature shades off into history and magic and mystery and religion, into sociology and anthropology – into nearly every subject you can think of, and it is there for everyone. There for the trouble of finding someone who loves books ready to make suggestions. A public library is the most democratic thing in the world.

(Lessing, in Fraser, 1992, 47)

This book demonstrates how libraries and library services are essential for supporting children and young people's development and celebrates the range of library and information services (LIS) that offer accessible learning opportunities. Throughout the book we reflect upon good practice in both local public libraries and school-based provision, drawing on a range of examples from within the UK and internationally. The importance of books and reading is central to the book, but we also focus on the electronic learning age, which is now very appealing to children and young people.

This is an edited book, with invited contributions from nationally and inter - nationally known practitioners and LIS academics. The book is organized into four parts, each covering key themes. Parts 1 to 3 include an introductory chapter by one or both of the editors, followed by further chapters by invited contributors from the USA, Australia and the UK; these each finish with a case study, to illustrate themes drawn out in the preceding chapters. The chapters develop the vision for the future and discuss opportunities and challenges for children's librarians and policy-makers in the digital age.

This book is timely, and through drawing on current policy and practice it will prepare LIS practitioners for the challenges of learning and reading in an electronic world; challenges which are pushing the boundaries of library services. We believe this book is an innovative and valuable text for anyone working in the fields of library services, information services and education. It establishes a sound background in various aspects of library provision for five to 18 year olds. It provides professional insight for those who have to strategically plan or deliver library services and programmes at either a local community level or in schools.

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2 - 21st-century school libraries – visionary spaces for learning

Summary

13 - Case study. Imagine, explore, discover – welcome to The Trove at White Plains Public Library, New York

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Acknowledgements

6 - Libraries, literacy and popular culture – what's cool to read?

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Index

12 - Making space for reading – designing library spaces for children in public and school libraries

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5 - Libraries, literacy and popular culture – let's get reading!

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Dedication

Part 2 - Connecting and engaging – reaching your audience and catching the latest wave

11 - Library space and place transformation – designing for the digital natives

Summary

4 - Case study. Engaging and influencing policy and the curriculum – the Scottish Information Literacy Project experience

Summary

3 - The changing shape of reading – the 21st-century challenge

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8 - Comics, manga and graphic novels – developing, selecting and promoting a core collection for teenagers and young people

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Part 1 - Children's library services – policy, people and partnerships

Part 3 - Buildings, design and spaces – libraries for children and young people

10 - Case study. Partnerships and library outreach in the National Year of Reading 2008

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Introduction and vision for the book

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Contents

3 - Digitization and digital resources in the humanities

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