The Role of Libraries in Reading Beyond the Lines

Part of the process of getting readers to the point of reading beyond the lines is by encouraging them to see reading as something more than an exercise to pass a class test. This means that we must create an environment that promotes reading, in other words, that promotes a culture of reading.

This is a challenge that must be addressed by us in that key frontier of reading, the school library. For most observers, including many school librarians, it is taken for granted that any environment is suitable for reading. Nothing could be further from the truth. Researcher Torben Weinreich from Denmark (described in Ogland 2001) conducted a study that explored what kind of surroundings children prefer to have when they read. He found that the children wanted to lie on a bed or in an armchair and also have candies or food when they read. Note how dramatically different this is from the normal situation in most of our African schools!

However—and this is the model that the Reading Association and our library development partner, the Global Literacy Project, follow—we can take a classroom and convert it onto a cosy reading area with very simple enhancements, such as with cushions and reading area rugs. We can also encourage children to write their own poems and stories and use them as resources to create a sense that reading is directly relevant to their lives. They can read different books and discuss them in a group and, we can ensure that the learning area and the reading environment are distinctively different and aesthetically pleasing.

According to Prof. Obanya and others, the culture of reading should thrive in Africa through libraries, BUT we must understand that a library is not merely a physical location, simply a collection of books and other reading and study materials, or a place only for pupils and schools.

A library is an educational support tool and system which should help integrate reading into the core of the curriculum, at all levels, and encourage reading for pleasure and lifelong learning. Here, we define the role of a curriculum as representing a society's beliefs about its requirements of its school-leavers, about knowledge, and about the needs of its learners (Doiron, 1999).  The curriculum is the funnel through which a society influences the schooling of its young people.

The school librarian who is to be relevant to a curriculum so defined has thus three main agendas.  First of all, s/he teaches - literacy and information literacy. The second agenda is to consult & collaborate with the teaching staff.  By helping other educators in their pedagogical growth, s/he fulfils his or her own teaching agenda, as there is overwhelming evidence that information skills are best learned when applied & practised in subject areas across the curriculum.  They cannot be taught in isolation in so-called "library periods". 

Finally, the school librarian acts as an information manager.  S/he identifies gaps in information, finds out what information learners and teachers might need and sets about providing for these needs.  S/he thus builds a collection of learning & information resources, provides access to it, and manages it. 

Loertscher's (1999) identifies eight different levels of school library operation - ranging from the library that plays no role in the life of the school to the library that is crucial to the school's existence.  He suggests that the most evolved school library programmes are those that are involved in curriculum development.  Accordingly the school library only begins to fulfill its role when it is actively collaborating with educators, teaching information skills and running dynamic reading programmes. 

Loertscher argues that many schools have libraries but the educational programme in fact bypasses them. Only when teachers begin to consult the librarian before they embark on their projects and assignments will the library begin to gain real value in the school. 

• Thus the future of our libraries lies in embracing knowledge; and
• We need then to talk about how libraries are relevant to post classroom encounters. 

As such RAN works toward creating a strong school and community library network backed by an equitable book distribution system that allows everyone access to a wide range of reading material, regardless of economic status or geographical location. This will be a system which supports an education system that integrates reading at the core of the curriculum, at all levels, and encourages reading for pleasure and lifelong learning.

REFERENCES

Aboderin, A.O; Abe A. E; and Onukaogu C.E. 1991; LITERACY AND READING IN NIGERIA Encouraging parental participation in the teaching of reading in the infant classes by Jane Omojuba. Selections from the proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Conference of the Reading Association of Nigeria held at the University of Calabar, September 3-6, 1991.

Doiron, R. (1999) Activating new partnerships in support of school libraries. Teacher Librarian, 26(3), 9-15.

Loertscher, D.  1999.  Taxonomies of the school library media program.  2nd ed.  San Jose, Calif: Hi Willow Research & Publishing.

Obanya, Pai, 2001 SECOND PAN AFRICAN READING FOR ALL CONFERENCE, Towards a reading society Abuja, Nigeria

Ogland, Malin. 2001, REPORT FROM THE PROJECT, Joy of reading depends on reading environment. Habo, Sweden