What do you like to read? I am always looking for the next great book that will hook a student or for myself. I truly believe it only takes one book to change a struggling/reluctant reader. I see many students come into the library because their teacher told them to select a book, but they are hesitant because they say they don't like to read or there are no good books in the library. It is kind of like when you are hungry, you open the fridge that is full of food and say there is nothing to eat. There are too many choices and your brain (or stomach) doesn't know where to start. This is why I believe it is very important to teach students how to select books, be it reading for enjoyment or research for an assignment. To know the purpose of why you are selecting a book is step one when walking into a library. When talking to students who are looking a little lost I always ask "what do you feel like reading?" and I start of by rambling off the different genres/sections we have in the library. Once the student narrows down the genre then we discuss the different sub-genres or topics found in this section. Through conversation the student and I are able to slowly figure out what they feel like reading. Once a book is selected I always ask the students to read the first few pages or chapter to see if they are hooked. The worst thing is signing out a book and getting it back to the classroom for silent reading and they discover they find the book uninteresting and not engaging. For the very reluctant readers I let them (and now you) in on a little secret about myself. I didn't like to read when I was in school either! Crazy right? To think of the teacher-librarian who disliked to read. That is unheard of! We are all suppose to be born with a book in our hands. But it is true and I feel that my own experiences as a child allows me to really understand why these reluctant students don't like to read.
I will give you a little back story to fill you in. Growing up my two younger sisters loved to read (they still do). They would read anything they would pick up and they read them quickly. I on the other hand read the bare minimum and not usually for enjoyment. I always found it hard to get into a book and if I wasn't hooked I struggled to finish the book. I was one of those "how many more pages to the end of the chapter" readers (I would literally count, which makes reading a book you don't enjoy worse and more drawn out). I was like this until my late teens/early twenties when I discovered a genre that I really enjoyed to read. I first discovered this genre by watching the movie first. Eek! You say. I know books are always better than the movie and I can say for a fact these books are better than the movies. Don't get me wrong I do love the movies. The movies/books I am talking about is Harry Potter. I watched the first two movies before I decided to read the first book. I was hooked right away and realized I really enjoyed the magical world J.K. Rowling took me too. After that I now describe myself as a reader. I love to read. I love to discover new series of books and new authors. I started to venture outside of the fantasy genre and discovered dystopian books that I really enjoy to read. I even got a kindle so I could have instant access to books. When you live in a small town you are definitely limited to the books you can get your hands on, which is why it is so important for schools to have well stocked and up-to-date collections, but I digress.
My sisters still bug me today that they find it funny for a former non-reader to become a teacher-librarian. But I think that my experience helps me try and find the best fitting book for any student who walks into the library. I try and encourage students that if their current book doesn't work then we will continue to look until we find something that fits. For example this afternoon one of my grade 7 students told me she just couldn't get into the book she choose. I simply said lets put that back and try and find something you will like better. There is no point in forcing a student to read something they don't like when the whole point of reading for enjoyment is to enjoy what you read. This is where Stephen Krashen's work on "Free Voluntary Reading" comes into play. Students should be encouraged to choose books that they want to read in any format with no strings attached. This means that there is no extra work tied to what a student is reading. Promoting the love of reading is what is important. Now a teacher could check in with a student and start a conversation about the book. This does allow the teacher to check and see if the student is understanding what they are reading, if they are enjoying the book, and really just get a sense of where the student is at. This conversation can also help build the all important rapport we all want to have with our students and what better way than to support or build this relationship with a book!
So let me go back to the beginning of this post. What do you like to read? Do you read for enjoyment? If you answered no, what is the reason behind that no? Is it because you don't have the time or can never find the right book? Don't let these be the reason for you not to pick up a book. Take some time for yourself. It might only be 10 minutes here or there but that 10 minutes is worth it. Enjoy in the silence that comes to you when you have your nose in a book/magazine/newspaper. Take that silence and allow yourself to be swept away into the stories authors have the gift to take us. Allow yourself to become centered in the journey of the author's words. I always find that reading helps me with stress. Books have gotten me through a number of long hours sitting in the hospital at my son's beside. The stories took me away from my reality for minutes or hours. Through each chapter and book I found some silence from the beeping. Books are therapy. Books are hugs. Books are laughter. Books are tears. Books can be anything you need them to be at that moment in time. They could be the friend you need at that moment where you just need to have a good cry or laugh. There are so many things books are and this is why it is so important for me to to help students the best fitting book. I hope that students find the love of reading and realize that books are so much more than paper with typing on it.
So, what do you like to read?
