Re: GEN: Reading and the school librarian

[Betty Dawn Hamilton <bhamilt@TENET.EDU>]

> for school, pleasure and other purposes.  It's just a different kind of
> learning.

Right, I agree. That's why it is *so* important that students become well
founded in information retrieval and *finding* what they like to read.
If they read only certain parts, I don't see how they can find what they
like to read. Also, we in the public school are held accountable for our
students' reading skills and schemata.

Consequently, school librarians have in their job descriptions to teach
students certain skills and to provide enrichment for the school
curriculum (as you said).  Teachers are frantic trying to get students to
read *whole* books (that's why Accelerated Reader is being installed in
so many schools), so I try to support their efforts as much as possible.

No, we have a great deal of reading material and none of it is
restricted, but the purpose of teachers' bringing their students to the
middle school library was so that students would have a book that they
would *read*, not just carry around. Both high school and middle school
libraries are literally swamped with users, which is wonderful. I am
supposing by that that they aren't feeling too restricted! :-)

I have an idea that those who want to read and love libraries as we do
*do* come to the public libraries, and I am grateful for that. I just
wish those *others*, the ones who DON'T read would be interested enough
to do the same!

Also, I just had that lightbulb go on -- you know the one that signals a
new idea? I had a former public librarian tell me during this discussion
that because of the lines that are often at the reference desks of public
libraries, that many times the material is located *for* the patron. I
understand and applaud that, because many times users have only a few
minutes to find what they need.

I'm wondering if that is why, as I begin my "Socratic" questioning (to get
the student to arrive at the correct sources of information for
him/herself) he/she interrupts and says, I'll just wait and go to the
public library! (And *thinking* is what we are trying to get these
students to do, not just learn subject matter.) These are the ones who
come to me first before they ever look at a card catalog or reference book
or other data bases.  The *search* is a PART of the assignment -- not
just having someone else find it for them. Of course, having the catalog on
computers has helped a good deal. Students *like* to search with computers.

I have teachers come to me for input before they ever make an assignment.
Many times they say, "Now I want them to have to *really* search for
these answers; I don't want them to just look in the standard reference
books." Well ... if I or the public librarian finds the information FOR
the student, we are defeating part of that teacher's purpose -- to infuse
higher order thinking into her project. In the school library, we HELP
and we DIRECT the search with suggestions and assistance, but we try not
to do it for them (but sometimes we *do* wind up doing more than the
teacher prefers).

Thanks for the feedback!  (Sorry about the length.)

Betty
bhamilt@tenet.edu