Too Cool?

Slow Down and Read!

Do you ever get the feeling that kids are just too cool for the library these days?  They’ working so hard to be cutting edge, on top of the next wave, prove they’re in the loop - it’s a lot of work.  Just keeping up with the chatter on facebook and twitter is a full time job.  Then there’s I-tunes, the mall and the movies...no wonder there’s no time to go to the library, and besides who wants to spend all their time with their head in a book? (Besides me, I don’t count)
Bella Grace Tyler of Norwich, C.T.  does AND she’s having fun doing it.  Debra Lau Whelan introduced me to Bella Grace last week in her School Library Journal article, Library Inspires Second Grader to Start 1,000 Books Read-a-Thon.  Fortunately, Bella Grace doesn’t yet realize that she’s not having fun, she actually LOVES going to the library and reading so much that she started her own read-a-thon to see if she could read 1,000 books in a year.  Bella Grace got hooked on reading last summer when The Otis Library ran a reading contest that let kids earn points for every hour they read, Bella couldn’t get enough.  She went to the library almost everyday, blew through her summer reading list and came up with the 1,000 book challenge for herself.  She has read 800 books since June 18, 2010.  
The Otis Library couldn’t ask for a more enthusiastic spokeskid,
“The library has great books for free, super nice librarians who help me, and fun programs where I can read and do arts and crafts. If I have to pick on a scale of one to 10 where 10 is the best, then it's a 10-plus. Every time I go to Otis library it's like Christmas!”  
No, the Bella Grace is not on the payroll, she is an old fashioned kid who has been protected from all the ‘fun’ she’s supposed to be having with technology and modern American culture and allowed to discover what kids (and grown ups) have known for centuries:  reading is enjoyable.  
The students who come into my classroom each September are changing.  They are increasingly hostile about reading, when they first arrive they groan and roll their eyes when it is independent reading time.  I ignore them because I know that my classroom is a detox program for our culture.  At first, it is painful.  They miss the constant flashing lights, the instant feedback and the stream of images telling them how to look and act.  They have trouble focusing on print, sitting still for more than five minutes and getting lost in a story, but in my classroom the choices are limited.  There are books, magazines, paper, pencils, plants, a frog tank, sunny windows and quiet.  I keep reading and they keep reading and slowly the tide begins to turn.  The only reason it works every year is because in my room reading and thinking are cool and books don’t have to compete with glitzy or violent entertainment options.  The kids have the time to discover that reading is fun (especially when you find the right books) and doing your best actually makes you feel pretty good about yourself - and they are not embarrassed to admit it.
Bella Grace and the kids in Norwich are lucky to have the Otis Library, it is a reading resort with a full line up of book clubs, programs, activities and engaging events.  They recently ran a contest to name the new children’s room mascot, a Russian, four toed tortoise.  Eighty kids stopped by the library to vote on the name Toodles.  Now Toodles has a list of her favorite books to share with kids.   This is what John Cotton Dana advocated 100 years ago - meeting the needs of patrons, demonstrating that the library is relevant and allowing readers to find the things that excite them.  
Bella Grace Tyler is a great example of what libraries can offer kids, not more of the same, but a break from the relentless pressure to be connected, entertained and cool (and to spend money doing it).  Sure, these things are fun but if we don’t protect our kids they may never discover that reading is too.