What is the most important function of an elementary school library?

[Angela Wilkins]

This year will see me move out of the classroom to try a new position as a
librarian and support teacher. As I consider my new role I think of the
importance of engendering a love of reading as well as life skills such as how
to find and evaluate resources. My question to you fellow bloggers is what do
you think the most important function of an elementary school library is?

[Monica Berra]

Today three librarians in a parking lot discussed your ideas.  Together the three of us are in our first month of building a district learning commons where teachers, students and parents come together to build knowledge together.  We are climbing our mountains and understand how your vision needs support.  If you look closely at my picture you will see me on a windy day waiting for traffic to begin.  We all want to cross the bridge but....someone has to build it.   Keep moving forward.

[Carlos A.M. Foscolo]

Thank you Angela for your suggestion and I'll sure get in touch with "We Give Books" and the Pearson Foundation too. I hope I can get my project chosen. I'll let you know as we progress on it. Thanks Monica for your commennt. I've always tried to be at least a bit ahead of my time, but I confess it's not easy to be so because most people only believe in things when they see they're already done everywhere. It's very difficult to be the first one to do anything. But I'll try anyway, Thank y'all again.  

[Angela Wilkins]

I find it so motivational that our discussion has led you in this direction Carlos! I can't wait to hear about how your project goes.

A web resource that I found one day may help you in your endeavors. There is a website called We Give Books (http://www.wegivebooks.org/) which is run by the Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation. On this site you can read children's books online. The best part is that each time you read a book online they will donate a book to charity. I see it as a wonderful way to promote reading as well as give children access to books. They support different campaigns. You could use the online books in your project. You may also be able to get your project chosen as one of their campaigns if you contact them.

Wherever your route takes you with this, please let us know. I will look forward to hearing how it all works out and I applaud you for working to help children to become readers and to develop a love of literature.

[Monica Berra]

I watched a four year old interact with book on and ipad.  I was amazed and she was engaged.  Carlos you are a man of vision.

[Carlos A.M. Foscolo]

Hi y'all,

Inspired by the theme of this discussion, in our Lions Club meeting last night here in Pompéu (a small town in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil) I took the stand and talked about CEET, and more specifically, about the discussion in this forum.  Coincidentally, the theme we were discussing in the meeting was  what the club could do to enhance the taste for reading in the local schools.  Some proposed that the club should buy and distribute books, some proposed that some members should go to the schools and tell stories to children.  When I  took the stand I told them about CEET and the coincidence of the theme with the one we were discussing in this forum.  My talk was more in the sense of alerting them not to forget about technology and how children love it.  So I proposed we should find a way that the Lions Club International would invest in modern means of expanding culture and the pleasure of reading, maybe encouraging the use of IPads, Kindle and similiar things at the schools.  I also told them that since the Lions Clubs' members are usually older people it was time for the club to seize this opportunity and bridge the gap between the old and the young generations. After all, they've agreed with me and thanks to CEET, and to Sandy Hirtz who introduced to CEET , and to this blog, I'm going to lead a project with this purpose that will start soon. 

[Carlos A.M. Foscolo]

I'd like to comment two viewpoints that  complete each other.  On Dianne's comment I found it specially interesting her approach on "teaching students how to read for information" which will develop their skills to really understand and enable them to explain -- afterwards -- what was the text meant (all us know that a lot of people aren't able to explain what they've just read!!  And, completing this skill of understanding what has been read, I found it particularly interesting when Monica mentioned  "exploring the story, thoughts, emotions, environment and future of the character.  It is an environment that challanges the child to infer and to always read in between  the lines".  Those aspects posed by the Dianne and Monica will surely enhance a much better comprehension  of the text.  And, when one understands better what he reads, this will surely also increase one's pleasure to read.

[Dianne Smith]

I envy you entering the role of elementary librarian. Our district has mostly done away with those and now have 0.2 librarians. I worked as an elementary librarian for years and I believe my biggest function was "joy of reading" and for students to experience all kinds of books and stories. I believe one other important job of an elementary librarian is to also teach students how to read for information and I started this as early as Grade 1. Reading for information is an important skill, and I find many older students have difficulty with this.

[Monica Berra]

I believe the most important function of the elementary library is to open a world of inquiry and wonder.  This can be done with a picture that captures the imagination or horrifies the viewer.  It is reading aloud a quote from a character in a book and then exploring the history, thoughts, emotions, environment and future of the character.   It is an environment that challenges the child to infer and to always read between the lines.  It is a place of active discussion and where knowledge is built upon.  It is where we go to colour outside of the lines.

 

[Angela Wilkins]

Thank you so much for your thoughts Carlos. It is always interesting to hear about the education system in other countries and to contrast it with the work that we are doing here.

I too think that those early years are of vital importance. I hope to pass on my love of books and joy in reading. I think that giving students the skills they need to navigate through the world of text opens so many important doors.

[Carlos A.M. Foscolo]

Hello Angela,

I'm new here, and not at all  an expert in education for elementary school students (the level I think it's the most important in anybody's education). I was introduced to CEET by Sandy Hirst, who I got know about 2 weeks ago.

I have a specil interested on this level of education because my younger child (Hugo) is a 6 year old boy for whom reading is still a very new and exciting experience.

Back to your question, I think the most important function of an elementary school library is to develop on young children the taste for reading and, above all the habit of it.  Unfortunately, in my country (Brazil) the elementary school teaching hasn't been a priority for the past governments that have always priorized levels from college up.  Just to give you an idea how government has acted wrongly, over 60% of the budget for education is spent with the public federal universities and very often  you find elementary school teachers (over 70% of them) who make less than 500 reais (about 250 USD) a month. I've read several sections of this site and I'm impressed how education seems to be taken so seriously by everybody.