Reading in public

For every profession there are clichés. Librarians are no exception. What annoys librarians? Buns and shushing noises are laughable. What really gets under our skin is when people say “It must be nice to be able to read all day.” They usually say it in a tone of voice that lets us know that they are at once envious and looking down on our profession.

We laugh sardonically about how nice it would be to be able to get some of our required reading done during our working hours. (As a school librarian I have to wonder what working hours really means, but that is another story. One that my teacher friends can write as well as I can.) When do we get our reading done? At home, in the evening, on the weekend, during those summer “vacations”, waiting for the doctor, dentist, child’s soccer/baseball/football/dance/swim/etc. practice. On the bus/train/plane/etc. Listening to some of them via books on tape during our commutes. Waiting for the laundry. I’ve even been known to sneak a few pages in during a wait at the grocery story or department store. Especially during the long Christmas lines.

We do our reading by stealth, trying to impose on no one. Cramming as much work in while on location and then indulging our guilty pleasure in the dark recesses of privacy. Reading is our lurid secret.

And, did I mention that since I became a school librarian I’ve read only a handful of novels aimed at adults? I’m mostly in the middle grade trenches. I read these, even the types I dislike, so that I can find the perfect match for my students. Sometimes it is hard to plow through them.

And this was my pattern until a few weeks ago when I saw an article by Stephen Krashen. (see below if you would like more information.) I admire his work. In fact, I began using Sustained Silent Reading as a foundation for my classes after reading a number of his posts some years ago. This article jogged me. The one thing I wasn’t doing was reading during SSR. I was using SSR as the opportunity to take care of book check out. So I started sitting in the midst of my students, cheek-and-jowl and reading. It was refreshing. But to be honest, I felt like I was going to get in trouble for not doing my work. I felt like I was goofing off. Regardless, I do find that much more reading goes on when I am in the middle of the class.

The absolute kicker happened on Friday. It was my lunchtime. I don’t often eat lunch during this time, I use it to change gears and ready myself for the afternoon. Friday, however, I was dying to know how the chapter I had been reading ended. I thought I’d give myself a few minutes to find out. A student walked into the library, one of our youngest, an said in sheer innocence

“Oh, Ms. Shoup! You read too?”

I was shocked. I read books to this student all the time. I thought it was obvious.

She knew the difference. Adults read to children, but that doesn’t mean they read themselves.

Librarians need to come out of the dark places where we read and be caught in the act.  I need to stop worrying about whether someone thinks I’m taking it easy and start acting on the knowledge that being a visible reader is the most effective advertisement for reading.

Von Sprecken, D. and Krashen, S. 1998. Do students read during sustained silent reading? California Read 32(1): 11-13. http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles.php?cat=2

I finally decided to sign up for the Good Reads Reading Challenge. I generally like a challenge. I love reading. So it seems like it would be a natural step to join. I found myself, however, worrying about whether I could read as many books as I set out to. I worried about whether it would be embarrassing to fail. This morning as I saw that button on my Good Reads account, I thought of my students. How they feel about reading challenges. Some of them may love them. Some of them may dread them. While I can't change their feelings about this summer's challenge, I could at least take the plunge. So here I go, in the middle of July setting an arbitrary goal of 200 books for 2012. 


I realized that the additional benefit of declaring my goal is the incentive to remember to log in books that I have read. When I remember to log in books I don't usually take the time to review them. My reviews are more like notes to help me remember how I want to use the book. Occasionally a book will inspire me to write a review, but the lack of a review does not mean that I did not like it or that I was unenthusiastic about the book. I know that I spend time on social networking sites and I've learned to put limitations. I use Good Reads as a way to track my reading. It suffices at the moment. 


Want to see my progress? The widget on my sidebar is my goalkeeper. 

Picture This!

I missed the boat when it came to responding to THE article published by the New York Times which pointed to the demise of the picture book. The article, Picture Books No Longer a Staple,  created outrage in circle I run in – librarians, writers and children were flummoxed by the assertions. Bloggers wrote rebuttals, listservs buzzed, the first thing said when I met other librarians was “Did you see the article?”

Frankly, I had trouble keeping up with the pace of the responses. I sometimes have the tendency to wait until I’m up to date reading the comments of others before making my own response. I don’t want to say what someone has already said, usually with more panache than I would. This has been a recurring theme for me this year. One I hope to correct in 2011.

Not only that, I’m still trying to process what I heard and learned at the MSLA annual conference in October. There I heard the visionary Stephen Abrams speak about how technology is speeding up and how changing format will drive how our libraries look in the near future. I found myself wandering around in fog over the next few days trying to make sense of what I had heard and how I felt it might all play out in children’s services. Specifically, if the change in format means a real shift from book as a physical artifact to a digital resource, what will that mean for picture books? What about the future of the Caldecott Medal in a digital world? I had not resolved these questions in my mind when the New York Times article appeared. Stephen Abrams had warned us that the changes facing us will be many and of rapid succession. The luxury of understanding one thing before facing the next will be just that, luxury. Those who can quickly respond in clear, concise language their thoughts will certainly be ahead of the rest of us who are left standing in shock trying to catch up. It occurs to me that the skill of responding quickly to new information might be a very important skill to instill in our students.  I need to practice the skill so that I can model it.

This morning I came across the CBS article Expert: Picture Books Do Still Work for Kids. 

While I could have wished for a title with more positive spin, the article is quite solid in outlining how children benefit from picture books. It also encourages parents to add books to the holiday bounty. More than anything, the tone of the article is a calming force. Rather than voicing outrage, the article is reassuring and soothing like a story before bed. Make mine a picture book.

Success or Failure?

I have just started reading I’d rather be in the studio: The artist’s no-excuse guide to self-promotion by Alyson B. Stanfield. A quick flip through the pages gives me the feeling that it will be a book full of information to underline and apply. For now I am contemplating page 2. She asks “Are you more afraid of failure or success?”

What if I answered that question myself? What if I asked my students to answer that question? What if I could know how a student who challenges me might answer that question? What if I have a character in a story ask this question? Would the way I approach my work/my life/my writing, change?

It’s a variation on a theme I’ve heard before. Yet the way Stanfield embeds it in her message is powerful. For the writer, the artist, the teacher, the librarian, the family member that I am, this question can transform me. Will I let it?

I have to ask myself how the fear of success may play into how some of my students deal with learning. Peer pressure is intense. Last week, I watched a group of boys groan when they heard we were going to read Cinderella. Some of the same boys were nearly jumping out of their seats minutes later to have a chance to tell what happened next in the story. When I had them vote by a show of hands, more boys indicated they enjoyed the Cinderella variation we read than those who felt differently. Not only did they feel they weren’t supposed to enjoy the story or know the answers, they certainly weren’t supposed to want the pair of glass slippers cut from paper. And yet one boy, oblivious to the scolding of the rest of them, openly showed he liked the whole thing. Boys aren’t supposed to remember fairy tales and girls aren’t supposed to be good at putting things together. Or so I have been told by the under 6 crowd lately.

This leads me to wonder what other things my students may be pulling back from engaging in. What cultural pressures make them fear to achieve? What personal experiences have made them feel unable to succeed and therefore not a player?

Sometimes I have to pry the answers from some of my students. I meet with success only when we are at the check-out counter and the room is too noisy for them to be noticed by others. What if those students were not afraid of either success or failure? What chances would they take?

If you are intrigued by Stanfield’s book you can find out more at IdRatherBeintheStudio.com. I can’t wait to see what is in the rest of the book!

Can’t turn that librarian brain off

The other day I had a medical appointment. The doctor suggested that I have some blood drawn. So as I put out my arm, I started chatting with the wonderful professional who was taking my blood. Before I knew it we were discussing Captain Underpants and Geronimo Stilton. In the short time we talked, I participated in reader’s advisory, online access instruction and an overall plug for using resources available through the local public library.

Believe it or not, my family thinks it’s funny that I cannot go out in the world without thinking and acting like a librarian.

Newbery Course with KT Horning

I haven't been blogging in the past six weeks. I just finished an online course through ALSC. The course, The Newbery Medal: Past, Present and Future, is led by the indomitable KT Horning. So instead of posting to my blog, I've been reading like crazy and posting to the course discussions.

I have wanted to take this class since I first heard about it. Several times I saw it listed and wanted to sign up so badly I could taste it. Each time the timing was unthinkable. This time I was not feeling much time on my hands. By all reckoning I was as busy as I ever have been. This time when I saw the course offering I thought “If not now, when?” So I signed up and had my mind expanded.

The cast of characters taking the course was rich and varied. The course is well planned out, the content is thoughtful and the experience has been really enlightening for me. Some of my long held beliefs have been shattered and new understanding is awakening in me. I am much richer for the experience. I would recommend this course to anyone with an interest in the Newbery Medal. I understand that the course will be offered again in the summer.

Between reading David Weinberger’s book in January and taking this course this month, my intellect has been stretched in new ways. It will take the rest of the year to digest and implement what I have learned. Meanwhile, I have a stack of books which have been waiting for me to get to them while I've been reading Newberys.

Thanks Harry

Recently two boys have been sneaking into the library after hours to change out their books. This started when we got that new set of Horrible Harry books. I'm always worried that they will miss their buses. They come swooping in, throw down their returns, run over to the section of Suzy Kline books, grab one and bring it to me to check out. It takes about 30 seconds. Both of these boys will move on to another school next year and they are trying to finish the series before we stop checking out books this year. No need to connect these guys to books...the challenge is to be open when they are ready!