I became interested about 4 years ago in what I could do to increase the reading and writing proficiency of the students at my school. My principal had listed this as one of his top priorities; we were on the fringes of the new CSAPs; and we had recently moved to a new automation system that made gathering statistics much easier.
As school media specialists we have, literally thousands of tasks to perform in our job descriptions. When Harvard Business school prepares their MBAs for busy multitasking jobs, their first lesson is: “If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.” If we want to increase the reading and writing abilities of our students, we must first make that our number one priority!
PR and Promotion. What do you do to build a feel-good place for kids and staff to come to?
Part of what I think is important, is actually getting out of the media center and getting embedded into our students’ projects.
How do you do that? How do you get invited into the classrooms to help?
I run the sound system for drama productions, talent shows, etc. I actually train students to do that, and then show up as their “coach” and let them take their bows.
How does your staff and administration view you? Why?
I like to invite anyone with the
power to help us, to our Latte Days. I also use this as a Thank You Day for
people who regularly perform services for us. Mayor of Ft. Collins, District
superintendent, school district workers, Lynne and Lois, school board members,
Rotarians; newspaper. It’s a good
excuse for some higher-ups to get together with other higher-ups for photo
shoots. We can show off our books. It shows the media center as a vital,
dynamic part of the school. Everyone’s included! You can’t do Latte Day
“online!”
While being the best Public Relations move I have ever made, Latte Day is also our best Promotional Activity for reading. Our circulation is highest in October and the time immediately following Latte Day. It also increases our general student use of the library. The day following latte day is usually packed with students early in the morning before school starts.
I think that promotional activities for teens, designed to increase circulation, should be exciting, and somehow involve food. Big, splashy activities fire them up, and it is more valuable to fire them up occasionally than keep them on simmer all the time.
This year we ran a CSAP Store. We peddled books to read during the “CSAP down time” along with Mary’s Mountain Cookies and Brownies and bottled water. It was wildly successful and we made over a thousand dollars to spend on new digital video equipment. Everything was a dollar. Kids helped us “run the store.”
Do you do book clubs? What kind?
We ran Reader’s Picnics this year. They were supported by a grant and contributions from Alberstson’s grocery store. Kids ate sections of giant sub sandwiches while listening to booktalks given by FCPL librarians and each other. Moms helped!
We also run contests in the spring where kids can enter for prize drawings each time they check out a book. The entry tickets usually ask one survey question regarding their use of the library, or what they like to read, or even what flavor of latte they would like if they win. It’s Fun! Winners are announced on the intercom and rewarded in their classes.
What activities have you done in your library that you think have positively affected your circulation?
Increasing students’ Joy of Reading or Writing is not just about PR and Promotional Activities. It is very much about the day-to-day management of the media center. What good practices do you employ on a regular basis that you feel increases your students’ joy of reading or writing?
I recently threw out my entire masters program. I actually went to the city dump after cleaning out the attic and took with me two huge boxes filled with handouts, notebooks, and research. Nothing in these boxes applied to my job anymore. I threw out Media and Methods, Selection, Classification, Adolescent Literature, Administration-all of ‘em …EXCEPT a single article from my administration class. It was on the changing role of the “media specialist” from 1950 to 1984. I had actually remembered one fact that was referenced in this article. This article referred to over “700 tasks” that school librarians must do. The interesting thing about this article, however, was that it was written in the early 70’s before there were ANY computers in our schools. If there is anything we know about our jobs, it is that they are constantly and rapidly evolving. How quickly can we adapt to change???
[Craver, Katheleen. “The Changing Instructional Role of the High School Library Media Specialiat: 1950-1984.” School Library Media Quarterly. Summer 1986.]
There are some management policies that may contribute to… or hinder …our student’s joy of reading or writing.
Examples: How “fine friendly” are you? (“Sell” some and give some away.)
How do you make your students feel valued or safe? (*Bulletin Board with student’s pictures… “I like it here!”)
What are your rules about food and drink in your library?
*We sell bottled water.
How do you approach teens who might be “breaking the rules?”
*I try to treat kids I don’t know like they might be my best friend’s kids. My favorite approach line is: “John, I while part of me would like to allow you to drink Mountain Dew at the computers….” (What is your favorite line when approaching kids?
Who is in charge of “Fluffing and Greeting?”…
Who are the most important, your customers, or your media staff?
I used to think it was your customers, but the more I read about good management, the more I realize this is a trick question. It is clearly your staff and this includes your student aides! If your staff is not happy, then your customers will not be well served.
Sell some and give some away! (Give a little. Avoid conflict whenever possible)
Other best practices: Display books face out, “rotate your stock,” display, display, display! Alternatively, leave good books just lying around!
How does your media center make people feel when they first walk in?
*How do you want this room to FEEL?”
* SIGNAGE : “We’re glad you’re here” “How can we help?”
HINT! This is the most important aspect of getting teens to read! Even more so since “Potter.” Have you noticed this?
*Check your look-up stations to see what popular reading books are currently checked out at your library. When you find a title that you have several copies of, check a neighboring school or library to see if they are also circulating this book. It is amazing how teen readers in different locations find the same book to be “hot.” This is valuable information for us.
How are you selecting books for your kids’ pleasure reading? What lists? Blue Spruce? ALA? Are you happy with them?
Student input? How? Change is rapid! Student media aides are key!
How often do you shop?
How long does it get, to get bestsellers on your shelves?
Immerse yourself in the selection process.
Kids are funny. Let them read humor. Let them decide what is funny.
Graphic novels will dramatically affect your circulation! Read what the research says about teens reading “comic books.”
[Trelease, Jim. The Read-Aloud Handbook. ISBN 0141001615 pbk. 2001]
[Krashen, Stephen. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research.
ISBN 1563080060 pbk. 1993]
How many copies of a single book are too many? (Used bookstore is an option.)
Remember Pareto’s Principle: 80/20 Rule – Not just 20% of the students cause 80% of the problems. This is a management tool based on a cause/result relationship that is statistically valid. It works for many random assortments of large numbers. In business: 80% of your sales are by 20% of your sales staff. In your closet, 80% of what you wear is 20% of your wardrobe. 20% of your collection is responsible for 80% of your circulation! We have 16 copies of The Seer and the Sword in our library. One is in Spanish! We are wearing them out! As they are removed from the shelf (because they have been “read out”) we will replace some of them with new reads…perhaps Victoria’s new release in the spring of 2005. J
“Marketing is about what people buy, not about what you sell.” (GM let the engineers design what they “wanted to” in the 60’s. They told the engineers that they would just use advertising to “tell people what they wanted.” This didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now.
Forget about “a balanced collection.” Perhaps we need to discuss what we mean by “balanced collection.” I have heard this term used in many ways. If you simply mean that you need to have books that show both sides of an issue, then, yes, it must be “balanced.” But if you use the term to mean that you must represent all topics with equal numbers of books, then that does not make sense…especially for a school. A collection does not need an equal number of books on the “United States” and “The Renaissance,” if, in fact, you do not study the “United States” at your school. Our curriculums are not “balanced.” We do not use every topic in the school library equally. Some we never use. Since computers offer us more information on a topic than any individual can possibly process, this leaves a larger percentage of our budget to spend on fiction and other “pleasure reading” books for kids. We need to spend less time being concerned about “balance” and more time being concerned about “use.” Buy multiple copies of hot reads! 20 or 25 copies may not be too many of some books.
We need to look at the task of increasing the Joy of Reading and Writing in our libraries as more than just adding extra promotional activities. It also must include: making sound PR moves, good management decisions, and most of all, using best selection practices. Making reading and writing your top priority is the first step towards increasing your circulation. Fiction circulation statistics are strong indicator of your student’s Joy of Reading... especially if a good portion of your circulation is from students’ voluntary checkouts. Stephen Krashen’s research studies indicate “free voluntary reading is the best predictor of reading comprehension, vocabulary growth, spelling ability, grammatical usage, and writing style.”
[Krashen, Stephen. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research.
ISBN 1563080060 pbk. 1993]