Literacy is about reading...right?
And libraries overflow with things to read, on paper and onscreen. Then what's not to get about school libraries and literacy?
Perhaps we're blindsided by the scramble to attain higher reading comprehension scores and avoid the fallout of the information explosion. We feel the pressure to provide Band-Aid solutions - send in the literacy troops; buy more computers.
Is the library - literacy connection too obvious? It's hard to separate the process of reading from the reading material itself. But simply put...
Kids + books = literacy.
Unfortunately kids can be led to books, and they can decide to watch television instead. Let loose in the most beautifully-designed library with comfy chairs and volumes of age-appropriate, enticing reading material - and they can still choose to zone out.
But there is no shortcut to literacy. We learn to read by reading. Nonreaders become readers by reading beginner books, which enable them to read books just a bit harder, which allow them to grasp more sophisticated writing and concepts.
We need inspired teachers and teacher-librarians to lead us on the path to literacy, but books are perhaps the more subtle, and throughout our lives, the more powerful teachers. Without knowing it, we, as readers, absorb not only the phrases and vocabulary, but also the thoughts, images, values and visions of the writer. To a literate person, the library is a world of collective wisdom, a map to everywhere. No wonder it is the cornerstone of our schools, society, and institutions.
Further reading...A Call to Action: What We Know About Adolescent Literacy and Ways to Support Teachers in Meeting Students’ Needs; A Position/Action Statement from NCTE’s Commission on Reading
May 2004
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dr. charles best secondary school library
