Re: GEN:classroom libraries

[Patricia Burgstahler <pburgs@LOCALNET.COM>]

When teachers talk about wanting classroom libraries, the one thing that
seems to strike them as logical and important is that if they continuously
hand feed the books to the students, they are now becoming independent
library users with lifelong skills.  Who will accompany them to the library
in college or as adults and select a group of books for them?  Who will
maintain a shelf of the appropriate level books at their house?  Who will
go to the bookstore and help them choose appropriate materials for their
projects at home or their recreational reading?  We need to foster a sense
of appropriate selection which is what we should be doing each time they
come to the library to select books from a wide variety, where not
everything is appropriate and they have to use judgement.  Teachers take
away the need to use judgement when they provide the books, all
pre-selected in the classroom.  Hope this gives you another opinion to
share with your colleagues.

Pat Burgstahler
Jefferson Elementary School
Buffalo, New York 14223
pburgs@localnet.com