School Librarians of the 21st Century
"Building partnerships for learning..." ources

Library Media Specialists teach
literature appreciaton and information literacy skills

Literature appreciation is promoted through book talks, reading rallies, book clubs, displays and reviews

Reading ability is reinforced, along with listening and viewing skills by reading to students and discussion strategies that assist students in making meaning.

Information literacy skills enable students to access, evaluate, use and produce information responsibly.

"Nothing

is more important

in helping children

become readers

than reading books

aloud with them."

Literature appreciation isn't just loving books, it's grasping the nature, worth, quality or significance of literature from many genres, cultures, and viewpoints. It's teaching that appreciation to students. Two courses that train library media specialists in literature appreciation are Materials for Children and Materials for Young Adults.

Reading to children on a daily basis is the best way to develop and reinforce reading ability and to encourage a love for literature. Select materials that encourage discussion, inquiry, and the construction of meaning, that are on topics of interest, that pose problems, that provide multiple perspectives, that integrate thought and emotion. Continue to read aloud to older children, to other adults, and to encourage children to read aloud to you and to others. Another way to encourge reading is to make sure your child sees you reading -- everything from books and newspapers to labels and the text on your computer monitor. For more detailed information go to Helping Your Child Become a Reader.

Discussion strategies help readers articulate meaning, make connections to their own lives, trust their own responses and respect those of others. Follow the link for more details on discussion strategies. They are excerpted from ourses taught by Professor Kay Vandergrift, Rutgers University's School of Communication Information and Library Science. Click the links for information on two excellent courses that she developed, Materials for Children and Materials for Young Adults, and her award-winning website.

Information literacy skills are the lifelong learning skills of how to access, evaluate, use and produce information responsibly. Students learn the basic skills of using the library's many print and media resources in elementary school. Technology instruction begins early because most 21st century Library Media Centers access information using online catalogs, databases and the Internet. From middle school through high school, students are instructed in the research process, searching strategies, online search engines, online search tools, and the responsible use of information.

From: On sharing literature with young people

"Acknowledge the uniqueness of each reader and of each reading in the meaning-making
process. Invite responses, both emotional and intellectual.

Allow time for readers to reflect on what they bring to their reading and acknowledge and
examine the responses evoked. Keeping a log or a journal helps to give shape to ideas
and to articulate the meanings brought to and taken from a literary text.

Ask questions that guide the reading-thinking process.
Avoid diversionary questions. NOT: What would you do? or Have you been in a similar situation?
INSTEAD: What did you already know? Expect? What do you now know? What do you still want to know?

Encourage discussion. Begin with the text but recognize that comments
will also refer to the self and to the world outside the text.
What does the text say? (On the lines)
What does it mean? (Between the lines)
What does it matter? (Beyond the Lines)

Find points of contact (connections) among readers. Encourage young people to trust
their own responses while respecting different responses from others.

Let discussion build and change. Listen TO what young people say rather than FOR what
you expect them to say.

Put the text and the discussion of it in context. Relate to other texts, experiences,
discussions, etc. Encourage readers to match their own created meanings against both
the text and knowledge outside the text.

Find ways to go beyond this text and this discussion--further research, reading, writing,
other creative activities.

Respect the young person's right to privacy. Not all literary experiences should or must be
shared.

Reflect upon your own role as an adult intermediary in the transactions between young
people and literary texts."
Created September 20, 1995 SCILS, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

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