I started out this blog with an introduction to a series of stories I had collected with my friend, storyteller Joe McHugh. It was while doing this project that I discovered that there is true power in “story” and that we encounter its power in a variety of venues. Today I’m investigating the power of reading.
It is the power of story that motivates us to read. That story may be fiction or it may be non-fiction – but it is the written collection of events that propel us towards a deeper understanding of who we are, why we’re ‘here’ and where we might want to go. Once a story is started, we just have to find out how it ends. How often have we, as teachers and librarians, read to students and then stopped right at the crest of the conflict, that last little bit of resolution hanging out there like a chocolate drop on a string… and then slowly closed the book and put it away? Cries of “Don’t stop now!” or “Whaaatt???? Keep reading!” set the stage for future reading, often by kids who don’t even like to read. Those books get grabbed up quickly and devoured to the very end.
Dr. Stephen Krashen wrote a compelling book, entitled The Power of Reading, that guided my teaching in the classroom and still guides my work in the library today. His thesis is simple: we read better if we read more. Seems pretty simple. And it is. But for some reason, it seems that the “reading wars” will continue on around us for many years to come. Is it just a question of money or is it that educators think that they have to be doing something that makes us feel as though we are actively creating learning for our students as they practice reading? Worksheets, phonics, whole language and leveled reading all have their place, but the research is truly clear: we get better at reading… by reading.
So what does that have to do with us in the library? Plenty, since we are often the recipients of the logistics of dealing with the outcome of those ‘wars’. We purchase books, we ‘level’ them, we arrange them and we apply those ‘levels’ to our MARC records so that teachers, parents and kids can find specific books assigned to them.
But through the years, in emails to listservs and at conferences, I see a larger back-story to what goes on in the school library: kids get the books they want from their librarian. Sure, it’s extra reading, but it’s that “story” thing again… the need to find their own voice reflected back to them from the larger world. Librarians know, from experience, what Dr. Krashen found out through research: “A number of studies show that contrary to popular opinion, when interesting and comprehensible reading material is available, most children read them.” [From an e-mail to CALIB listserv 2010.]
Which brings me to the next idea in this stream of story consciousness and politics and school libraries: being fierce. Joyce Valenza’s charge to us for this year is to ‘be fierce’. What an excellent arena to do that: reading…books… sharing stories! We can easily be there as a strong presence in even the most strident AR/Language!/Read 180/Open Court /etc. schools handing out books; leading book clubs - both physical and virtual, creating book trailers, helping students create their own, sitting in with them in class and helping them to read, and instructing them in how to find books on their own in the library.
Be bold. Be fierce. Tell stories. Give books and encourage that love of story… it will, on it’s own, encourage reading. Be there for that.
Postscript:
Petaluma Speech by Stephen Krashen:
Dr. Stephen Krashen spoke to a room of teachers and community members on January 28th in Petaluma, CA. Listening to him speak always awakens the optimism about reading that we all know to be true: reading more makes better readers. Click here to read one child's story.
Connie Williams is a high school librarian and an advocate for school libraries. Connie loves to read and loves talking 'story' with others. You can contact her via email, or leave a comment below.
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