Re: GEN: Reading and the school librarian

["Karen G. Schneider" <kschneid@UMICH.EDU>]

>Also, the public librarian is in a considerably different postion than I
>am.  I am a TEACHER and as teacher, I want my students to learn.  Being a
>reader myself, I know how students can broaden their minds by reading;
>and just checking the books out won't do that.

Whoa!  Hel-lo!  Hey!  Public librarians want people to learn, too, and
youth service librarians are trained in guiding children toward materials
for school, pleasure and other purposes.  It's just a different kind of
learning.  And some kids learn much more through extemporaneous learning
and self-pursuit of education--assuming what they want to read isn't
sitting on a shelf marked "restricted," censored, filtered by SurfWatch or
denied them because they haven't hit a chronological watershed for their
"developmental" phase.  Goodness knows I suffered through many a deadly day
in school with fantasies of the public library and its delectable warehouse
of knowledge awaiting me.

Maybe you meant that reading in the school environment is more closely tied
to curriculum--a judgment-free comment I'll buy!  (Though of course many
PLs end up being de facto school libraries after 3 and on weekends.)

Karen