Magic Books

Doug Johnson wrote this wonderful post reflecting on intrinsic motivation and the need for libraries. I just turned in my Budgets project which I put together with this in mind. It seems that every year I find more and more students who hate to read...some of them are poor readers so they are constantly frustrated...some are excellent readers who, for whatever reason, associate reading with very negative experiences. The former group need a VARIETY of books at their level from which to choose. Librarians have to make sure their collections are filled with materials that have age-appropriate themes and content but vary in reading level. Even more, the librarian must be available to know the needs of low readers to spark that internal fire with materials that will not cause further frustration for the reader. The second group also depends on the expertise of the LMS. These good readers are uninterested and have already decided that every book is boring and that reading means being bored. The LMS has the challenge of finding that illusive book, or some kind of material, to begin the process of changing the child's perception of reading. Librarians are simply SO important for this, from developing the collection to working with students. I do my best to help students in my class find these magic books but I do not have these expertise that the LMS does. I will, though, eventually.