Through my research of “Fostering Reading Cultures in Schools” I came across the following definition that, in my opinion, perfectly sums up what a culture of reading should look like.
“Simply put, it is an environment where reading is valued, promoted and actively encouraged.” (Wilson, 2020)
Let me start by explaining the current library learning commons situation in the school where I am presently working. In my current school, because of COVID restrictions like social distancing, we are using our library space to house our grade 7-8 class of 26 students. Unfortunately, because of this, we were forced to pack up about half of the books in the library and cover the remaining bookshelves with fabric to prevent the students from touching (contaminating) the books. Unfortunately, we had to stop circulating books, and our once busy library learning common and thriving reading culture in the school has now been put on hold. The library technician and I have come up with a plan for safe book circulation, but it has yet to be approved. Although the current situation has put a damper on the library program, I believe that it is still possible to continue to foster a culture of reading in the school. We will just have to get creative and use the resources that are available to us to engage the students. We have an environment where reading is valued, promoted, and actively encouraged (Wilson, 2020) despite the lack of space.
Free Image by Pixabay
Upon reflection of the topic “Fostering Reading Cultured in Schools”, in my opinion, these are the three most important things to consider when trying to foster a culture of reading are:
-helping the students to develop a love of reading
-finding ways to engage the students
-making reading part of the everyday activities
The following video reminds us of the importance of reading and the impact it has on students.
So far, we have set up a schedule to read to the classes remotely using Microsoft Teams conference call. Each class has a set time and has been instructed to answer the Teams call in class and to project us onto the whiteboard where we can do the read-aloud. This works, if the teacher remembers when their library period is. When book circulation begins, we will present a set of books to each classroom in the form of a book review video. The teacher presents the video to the students and takes note of the books the student wants to sign out and we will deliver the book to the classroom when the students are outside for recess. The student keeps the book for two weeks. When we pick up the books, they will be placed in the quarantine area for 72 hours. The rules are that the student must leave the books at school and they cannot be shared with another student.
The teachers are encouraged to set aside designated time for silent reading every day since the books cannot be brought home. Reading it should be part of the daily routine.
Examples of activities I am currently trying to maintain and foster our school culture of reading:
To develop a culture of reading, it is important to know what the student likes to read. I am limited in the number of classrooms I can visit therefore, I have placed a whiteboard easel outside my office with a dry erase pen and a bottle of hand sanitizer so that students can write down book recommendations. I also ask a question at the top of the easel such as What are you reading? Who’s your favorite author? or Which new book are you looking forward to? This is working very well and the board has been mostly filled with great titles and, of course, the odd silly drawing.
Free photo by Pixabay
I will be presenting the new books as they arrive by placing them on display near the library. In-person book presentations are limited therefore I also take pictures of the titles, print them in color, place them in various strategic locations around the school, make a WHAT’S NEW bulletin board, and send a copy to the teachers so they can present them to the students.
Offering Book Club is a great way to foster reading culture in the school. Our book club revolves around the MYRCA books. We explore many of the MYRCA books and then the students will vote on their favorite. In previous years my school division has hosted a Moscars Award Celebration. So much fun!
image by MYRCA.ca
To engage the students and to remind them that books are everywhere, I try to create fun displays or a matching game on a bulletin board where the students match up the book title with the teacher who chose it. Here is an example of one of my displays.
Setting reading goals foster a culture of reading. I challenged the classes to a “read-off” to see which class can read the most pages or books within a given time frame during I Love to Read Month. I would also like to establish a specific time every day dedicated to reading. This can be school-wide or by class using the DEAR system. During this time teachers would also be expected to read silently to demonstrate modeling.
Wilson, Catherine, et al. “Ten Ways to Create a Reading Culture in Your School.” Resources for English Language Learners and Teachers | Pearson English, 11 Mar. 2020, blog.pearsoninternationalschools.com/ten-ways-to-create-a-reading-culture-in-your-school/.
2021 Sundogs Nominees, www.myrca.ca/sundogs-2021-nominees/.
“Library Book Recommendation Bulletin Board. The Children Created Book Recommendation Book Marks …: Library Book Displays, School Library Displays, Library Displays.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.dk/pin/69594756720488172/?nic_v2=1a1s0fdOo.
“Microsoft Teams: Group Chat Software: Free Chat App.” Group Chat Software | Free Chat App, www.microsoft.com/en-ca/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software.
“Creating a Thriving Culture of Reading”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13GPtReZuY
“I Love to Read.” Reading Council of Greater Winnipeg, rcgw.weebly.com/i-love-to-read.html.
“A Daily DEAR Program: Drop Everything, and Read! – ReadWriteThink.” Readwritethink.org, www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/daily-dear-program-drop-55.html.
A great post filled with strong strategies for fostering a reading culture! It must be hard to have your learning commons boxed up and inaccessible. I think you have some excellent ideas and plans in place. I love your whiteboard idea. What a wonderful way to share the love of literacy. I also appreciated seeing some of your displays. I want to make a book pumpkin!
Kathleen,
I enjoyed reading about you school library experience this year, though it sounds like you are not experiencing a great deal of joy, as you deal with restrictions. I am still amazed at the differences that each school and district have created for dealing with covid. In my district they are going with the “germs don’t live on paper scenario, which allows circulation to continue. We are circulating books and wiping when possible. We don’t re-shelve for several days and kids must sanitize upon entry. I would like to suggest that you look into the work of Penny Kittle( I posted a link in my own post) as she has done some outstanding work on reading in schools. She is a strong advocate of classroom libraries. Would it be possible to put together collections of books (perhaps 50 or more ) and leave them in classrooms for a month. Then get the books in, quarantine them and pass them on to another class.
Your pumpkin book display reminds me of another idea. Have you ever tried folded paper books. A great way to use discarded books and fun too.
Thanks,. Alison.
Hi Alison, thank you for your reply. There are definitely challenges in regards to book circulation but don’t get me wrong, I am still loving my new role as TL. I actually find joy in change! This year has been a challenge but finding new ways to do things has allowed me to really show off my abilities and bring NEW to the routine. Thank you for your suggestion about book circulation. Yes, we have considered making sets of books and we are working on putting together book sets as we speak. The library tech and I have discussed a few plans and we are working on getting things organized and once our ideas become approved, we will hit the ground running. We want to offer a good variety of books that the students can get excited about. Once we have the book sets worked out, we could deliver them to the classrooms where the students could choose their book. The only problem is, the same rules would apply. The students would choose a book but then once they have finished with it, the book must go into quarantine. We considered presenting the books in a video, like short book reviews, ask the teacher to take note of the student book choice, and then we could deliver the books. This seems like a less physical option yet still effective. There has been some concern as well about the books being placed in the desk where other objects the students have touched reside. We are following the same rules as the public library guidelines in terms of quarantine time which is 72 hours. The rule is that once the book has been touched by someone, it must go into quarantine for 72 hours. This does not allow the students to swap books from the same bin.
I looked at the Penny Kittle website. I think this is someone I need to follow on Twitter. Thank you for the tip. I appreciate all the resources she provides on her website. Love the folded book idea, I found lots of ideas on Pinterest with some that look like they would be good for beginners.
I am so glad you are not discouraged.
Also just wanted to apologize for not linking those resources. I was using my phone, as I just blew up my computer. If you want to try the folded page books, I have one suggestion. Look at how many steps your pattern has and choose a book with just a few more pages. A book with a strong spine is also helpful, as it will need to stand afterwards. On my first run, I had to start over as I had way too many pages in my book and the spacing was all haphazard.
Take care and stay safe,
Alison.
Kathleen,
I enjoyed reading your post, thank you for sharing what your library learning commons is looking like due to COVID-19 restrictions. It is too bad that your space and collection are closed off to the students, but your ideas about how to get students excited about books and library materials sound wonderful. I really like your idea of sending each class a video review of books that you think they will enjoy, what a great way to engage students even if you can’t go into their class.
The video you posted had some statistics that blew my mind! Especially, when it stated that, “33% of high school graduates will never read another book during their lifetime” (Vu, 2019). This hurts my heart a little bit! Hopefully through growing a thriving reading culture at our schools we can create more lifelong readers though.
Your book pumpkin is such a fun thought. I saw something similar, but it was a Christmas tree built out of books. How fun that books are so versatile and really can be building blocks for so many exciting things.