Looking at my first blog post Starting – ETL402 Literature Across the Curriculum I remember feeling really excited to start this subject – a course about children’s books, how perfect for the avid reader that I am!  However, once we started on the readings I became somewhat disheartened.  I wasn’t going to get to read children’s literature; I was going to get to read about children’s literature.

Then I got into the readings.  Children’s literature has come a long way and now we know the power it holds. Reading is more than literacy (Haven, 2007) and more important than ever (Gaiman, 2013).  I read the tales of woe around the future of children’s books (Zipes, 2009), but it didn’t deter, it ignited my passion again – books and reading are vital and it is my responsibility as a Teacher Librarian (TL) to pass my passion and love for children’s book on.

I now know books give so much more than just telling a tale or presenting facts.  Through the books we read, we learn about the world and about ourselves.  So when reading with our students we want to present them with a wide range of texts to capture their interest and spark the need for more.

So what does all this mean for me as a TL?  It is my job to put books that capture imaginations and make us think in the hands of my students and fellow teachers.  It is important to curate a well-rounded, diverse collection in a library but this is only part of the equation.  As TL I need to promote the collection and guide students and teachers to the right books.

We have so many wonderful examples of literary non-fiction that students and teachers rarely access and I want this to change.  Book displays are a great way to showcase books.  Setting up monthly themes to show library users what we have will be the first step.  Starting each library lesson with a short book talk of one of the displayed books to engage student will be step two.  Promoting our monthly themes through the school newsletter and in-school advertising will be step three.

Creating a reading environment and further developing our school reading culture is also a priority.  As a school we promote literacy but more can always be done.  I would like our students to be able to borrow more books (at present they are allowed a maximum of 4 books) so they can take home a wider range of texts.  I want to discuss and display the Rights of a Reader in the library so students know, it is okay to not enjoy a book and it is okay to skip to a new one.

I also want to promote to teachers the cross-curricula usefulness of children’s literature.  Writer John Green states “Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood” (Martin, 2012), by promoting books for use across the curriculum, we have a starting point for discussions on complex issues such as the effects of war and refugees.  ETL402 has reignited my passion for children’s literature, and it is one I am going to work hard to share.

Just Read: The Crows Tale by Naomi Howarth and Sonam and The Silence by Eddie Ayres

References:

Haven. K.F (2007). We’ve reached the research results. In Story proof: The science behind the startling power of story (pp. 89-122). Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group

Gaiman, N. (2013, October 16). Why our futures depend on libraries, reading and daydreaming. In The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

Martin, H. (2012, October 15). Your Teen is Reading WHAT? In Huffpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/h-jack-martin/your-teen-is-reading-what_b_1966820.html

Scholastic. (2010) October 21. The Reading Bill of Rights – A Child’s Right to Read [Video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quOFcoWBAgw

Zipes, J. (2009) Misreading children and the fate of the book. In Relentless progress: The reconfiguration of children’s literature, fairy tales, and storytelling (pp.27-44). London Routledge