This is BY FAR my favorite chapter of the book to this point. As I may have told you before, I sort of grew up in the
library in Livingston, TX . . .
Yet I never understood that the angst (and I don't use that word lightly) that my mother felt working there was perhaps a common emotion among librarians. I can't believe that during my stint at the
Sam Houston State University library, I didn't make the connection and realize this.
I knew my connection to librarians was deep, but until today, I could not put my finger on it. Now I get it: People don't understand you and what you're about and what you've got for them for the most part. If you are passionate about what you do, about books, and knowledge, and human progress, they just don't get it, and perhaps think they don't WANT to get it, though if they really understood, they couldn't HELP but want what YOU have to offer. Who could turn down knowledge, betterment AND entertainment?
But here's the scoop, my peeps, I FEEL EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. I HAVE EXACTLY the SAME things to OFFER! And, I experience exactly the same feelings when people don't "get" what it is I have to offer. Now, the big difference between us is that in my profession, there is a lot less feces, but still, I hear ya. I hear ya.
I'd also like to talk about what
Pam said. This is the perennial problem (except it never goes away, unlike real perennials), no one thinks they have time to do anything they perceive as fun or even possible fun. This begs the question though, why do miserable things (taking standardized tests) have to be more productive than "fun" things (hanging in the library reading a book)? WHO SAYS? If anyone finds the person who spread the nasty lie, please let me know. My not-so-secret guess is that hanging in the library reading and enjoying a book MIGHT lead to better test scores on the mandated day.
5 comments:
I LOVE your last sentence. At Buckalew I promote reading. In the precious 25 minutes students have in the library each week, their favorite thing to do is have time to read. I have multiple reading centers-the beach, the park, the beanbags, the girls' corner complete with white tuel hanging from the ceiling and draping over pink chairs. I walk the shelves with students until I finally find a book that fits each child. One of the best things about my job is when a student asks me to help him find a book that's as good as the last one I recommended. I don't believe that Bluebonnet books and AR tests are a bad thing. I'll do anything to get a kid to read! Do we earn high TAKS scores and SBEC awards because students read so much? I'd like to think that the work the teachers and I do to promote reading pays off.
One of the favorite things I enjoy seeing students do around the school is reading. I have snapped pictures with my cell phone when walking down the hall and looking into a classroom and seeing that "warm fuzzy" of students engaged in books. I agree that if we allowed students to do more of this, we may be surprised at how their reading improves! Yes, we must instruct them in how to read, but we also need to give them the TIME to be able to practice what we have taught them.
Our students seem so busy and overwhelmed with homework and projects. The AP and PAP kids have so much required reading along with extra curriculars and after school activities that they complain that there isn't time to read for enjoyment. Even my daughter, a sophomore at Texas A&M complains that she can only read for enjoyment during the summer or Christmas break. There is just too much required reading to possibly read for enjoyment. Hopefully at our level and the college level students have already been instilled with the love of reading by their wonderful past librarians and teachers and will once again pick up a book for the sheer enjoyment of it. We are doing our best to get our kiddos reading and one of the things that we are doing is collection development. We are taking requests from the students, (reviewed, appropriate). The students get so excited when the books that they have requested come in and they tell their friends, who tell their friends....so it seems to be working!
Reading the above posts from both Ele. and HS librarians, I am once again struck by how crucial it is for students to "get their reading in" during their Junior High years! I have heard the kids are overwhelmed with required reading and studies when they get to high school and college, and reading for pleasure becomes even more of a luxury with each passing year. I can very much remember how little reading for pleasure I did during the last years of HS and during my college years. The challenge of keeping our students engaged in reading as they move up the grades is ever present! I know our librarians across all grade levels do a marvelous job of promoting books and reading. And yes, once that foundation is set at an early age, they do come back to reading!
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