Great news! I've been offered the chance to 'take over' my school's library for the forseeable future, and I'm really excited to do so. We don't have a school librarian, although the library is up and running with the facilities in use to check out books onto individual student library cards. One of the teaching assistants helps with the running/sorting of the library and is available at the beginning of every lunchtime for children who want to check out books.
I teach in a primary school, which is for children aged 4 - 11, and my class are all currently seven years old. Each class has an allocated half hour slot in the library each week, which is used for taking out new books and also for storytime. The library is small, but it is inviting with comforting chairs etc.
I'm hoping to be able to set up some kind of book group/after school reading club, but wondered if any of you book-loving people had any other ideas to inspire children to love reading? I teach in a socially disadvantaged area and most families don't prioritise reading at home, so anything I can do at school with the library to help children enjoy reading would be fantastic. All ideas welcome :)
Showing posts with label libraries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label libraries. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Libraries
Today I made a trip to the library, which luckily for me is right next door to my flat. It got me thinking about libraries, how they work and what they should be used for.
When I was growing up, my parents didn't have a lot of money. I loved to read, but the only books I ever actually owned were either received as Christmas/birthday presents or from a great second hand book stall in the local market that sold children's books for 20p (pocket money price). So every Saturday, my Mum, sister & I would walk to the local library and get out the maximum 8 books each - and I always looked forward to it. Now it's one of the happy memories of my childhood.
But when I was in the library today, it struck me how different libraries have become. Granted, my library is very small and also functions as a community centre but I think there have been general changes. There were people tapping on computers and chatting in groups, and even though the computer area is screened off, it was still noisier than it would have been back when I was 5 or 6. The children's book area had toys as well as books. There didn't seem to be many comfortable places to actually sit and read in the library - there was only a hard wooden desk and that was taken up by a group of people running a book club. There's a local council phone which someone was using to find out about council tax.
Some of these changes are good, no doubt, and some are bad. What do you all think? I would also be interested to hear about libraries where you live, and if they're different to mine (UK).
When I was growing up, my parents didn't have a lot of money. I loved to read, but the only books I ever actually owned were either received as Christmas/birthday presents or from a great second hand book stall in the local market that sold children's books for 20p (pocket money price). So every Saturday, my Mum, sister & I would walk to the local library and get out the maximum 8 books each - and I always looked forward to it. Now it's one of the happy memories of my childhood.
But when I was in the library today, it struck me how different libraries have become. Granted, my library is very small and also functions as a community centre but I think there have been general changes. There were people tapping on computers and chatting in groups, and even though the computer area is screened off, it was still noisier than it would have been back when I was 5 or 6. The children's book area had toys as well as books. There didn't seem to be many comfortable places to actually sit and read in the library - there was only a hard wooden desk and that was taken up by a group of people running a book club. There's a local council phone which someone was using to find out about council tax.
Some of these changes are good, no doubt, and some are bad. What do you all think? I would also be interested to hear about libraries where you live, and if they're different to mine (UK).
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