home



The lack of reading skills in high school students is a primary concern among educators and policymakers. In the United States, a study conducted by the Alliance for Excellent Education found that only 51 percent of college-bound students who took the ACT college entrance exam were prepared for college-level reading (Siah).

**Reading Reaches Beyond Imagination**

**Students today deserve the opportunity to develop all of their literacy skills, including basic reading skills as well as the new literacies brought forth in this technological age. [K7] The 21st century library media center should support educators in their endeavors to instill the love of reading and improvement in the reading skills of their students. [P1] School media specialists must reach out to middle school and high school students by marketing their materials, valuing their choices, engaging their souls, and hearing their voices. [P6] The 21st century school media specialist should effectively encourage every student to read for pleasure. [P2] [L1]**

||



**The Silent Sustained Reading Movement that took hold in the 1970s challenged teachers to allow students to pick up reading materials of their choosing and take time to read them independently during the school day. Today several middle school and high school students are still reading for pleasure during the school day as their teachers model the practice; while several other middle school and high school students are not due to the demands of curricula and the school schedule. When children are young, parents read to them, teachers read to them, they read to teachers, and they read to one another. Why doesn't it happen that way when students are in middle school and high school? In middle schools and high schools where a culture of reading does not exist, it’s necessary for school media specialists to make contact with educators in their buildings to make it happen. [P4] The library media center must operate as the soul of the school to initiate the change.**

**It takes the administration, parents and teachers of a school working together to ingratiate and promote the love of reading.** **The stakeholders develop a culture of literacy, learning, and reading by building a program with a strong foundation. School media specialists should lead the way by incorporating AASL and state academic standards into the school's curriculum. [P3] They may need to revamp and retool silent sustained reading programs by meeting with teachers to offer methods of implementation, discussing scheduling challenges with administrators, and communicating with parents regarding the program. The process needs to be recursive in nature so that it moves "from approximation to understanding in a fluid, almost unconscious way" (Stripling 141). [K3] If schools promote a culture of reading for pleasure it will grow exponentially into a culture that challenges students grow and develop their information inquiry, divergent thinking, and critical thinking skills.**

**Developing a Culture of Reading**

**Cultures of reading for pleasure in school environments must take root and be cultivated. School media specialists and teachers must collaborate to offer students materials that foster the desired effect and may find themselves working with subject area teachers to develop units of study or inquiry projects that meet the needs of the standards and interests of the student audience. School media specialists should also arm parents with information regarding the school's culture of reading initiative and communicate with them. [K1]**

**Stakeholder Involvement in Culture of Reading Initiatives:**

**The stakeholders should know their roles in the initiatives. Listed are key concepts for parents, content area teachers, administrators, and library media specialists in their mission to foster creative, critical thinking skills through the promotion of reading for pleasure. [P4, P5] [K3]** 

· **Parents and Caregivers: Their role is check out what is happening at their son or daughter’s school by communicating with their children as well as the faculty and staff at school. Parents should check out the school website, volunteer in the library media center, or take their sons and daughters to get those hard-to-find books at the public library. Parents should model reading for pleasure in their own homes.**

· **Content Area Teachers: The role of teachers is to communicate to parents what is happening in the classrooms and to collaborate with the school library media specialist to design curricula that challenge students and incorporate the reading students are doing on their own. [K5] Teachers may also suggest books that students may enjoy reading and make sure that students have the time to read independently or with buddies during the school day. [P4] The needs of all students can be met through scaffolding activities and instruction provided by school library media specialists.**

· **Administrators: Administrators need to support the work being done in all of the classrooms and encourage students to read. Administrators may also find themselves suggesting books or other reading materials that students may enjoy, sponsoring reading challenges, and working with the school media specialist on the school media program budget.**

· **School Library Media Specialist: The library media specialist must collaborate with content area teachers and provide them with the support they desire to challenge students to be readers, writers, and thinkers. The school media specialist should provide ample materials to engage all readers, including reluctant or struggling readers while they communicate with their parents and the school administration. [L5]**

**Student Involvement in Culture of Reading Initiatives:**

**Marketing Their Materials**

o **Students should feel comfortable in the library media center and experience all that it has to offer. The school media specialist must strive to offer materials that promote student imagination and provide students with information literacy tools that feed their curiosities. [P7] [K6]**

o **The school media specialist should energize students through fun reading challenges, book talks, and special displays in the library media center that just may hook students who otherwise would not pick up those books and read them. [L3] Students also need the link to the library media center when they aren't in the school building; so school media specialists should provide and accessible, attractive, and content-rich websites for students. [L8, L10] Those website may be enhanced with links to blogs, databases, and other useful electronic materials**

**Valuing Their Choices**

o **Whether it be Rowling, Collins, Paulsen, or Meyer, the school media specialist should provide copies (sometimes several of them) of high-interest materials. Those materials need to be available and accessible. He or she also needs to keep up with professional literature regarding new technologies and topics of interest. The school media specialist may even allow students to pilot programs and new equipment. [L1]**

o **The school media specialist should open the library media center up to extracurricular groups within the school and let faculty advisors know that they can offer them more than just a meeting space. Educators should also collaborate to heighten student interest in reading by integrating the materials into the content area curriculum. [K4]**

**Engaging Their Souls**

o **Once students visit the library media center and use materials, the school media specialist needs to make a point to talk with students, offer reader's advisory, and get to know them. If students are made to feel welcome and valued they will make the library media center the soul of the school. [K9]**

o **Read ins, poetry slams, and literature circles are great examples of ways to engage and involve students while addressing AASL and academic standards. [L6, L7] If students organize these types of events of have a hand in them, they take ownership of the experiences and feel drawn to the library media space and all it has to offer. The hope here is that students do buy into these and other programs that develop their love of reading and learning.**

o **Blogs, tweets, and wikis are great formats for students to use to share their impressions pertaining to what they are reading and studying. Students may find themselves introducing technology tools that would be super methods for sharing information in novel ways. [P9] [L2, L4, L5] [K8] Students may also create video and poster marketing materials to promote reading and books.**

**Hearing Their Voices**

o **The creation of library media center student advisory boards is a marvelous way to allow students share their opinions regarding materials, use of space, and policies in the school library media center. Student-led reader's advisory is an awesome thing.** **Student-led reader's advisory is tremendous marketing tool. Consider the number of conversations among middle school and high school students regarding books that "rock" and authors that truly speak to young adult readers. [K10]**

**The Indiana Academic Standards for seventh grade note that: Students read and respond to grade-level appropriate historically or culturally significant works of literature. At grade 7, students read a wide variety of fiction, such as classic and contemporary literature, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, mysteries, adventures, folklore, mythology, poetry, short stories, dramas, and other genres.**

**Students and all the education stakeholders must contribute to the building of a culture that promotes and celebrates reading for pleasure. Students thirst for something to take them away from their worries, open up their imaginations, and feed their souls. Reading for pleasure is the answer. It leads students into introspective activities and inspires them to go out learn more about the world. [P8,P10] A culture of reading initiative can unite students and staff in unpredictable ways and must be cultivated and celebrated.**