Tag Archives: reading

February 17, 2012 · 1:44 pm

The Six Book Challenge 2012 – Challenging Ways to Encourage Young People to Read

 

Since I teach 16 to 19 year olds I believe that it’s so important to encourage young people to read more, but what can we do? Here are a few of my thought about it:

  • In this case recent technology has helped. It’s cool to read on an i reader or i pad! (or ‘sick’ one lad keeps saying at college and I have to think twice before I realise that he is being complementary) With the e book revolution  and so many free or very cheap books to download, reading has suddenly become a more attractive option for teenagers and however much I support real books, bookshops and libraries, it’s reading that’s the most important factor here. My only fear is the quality of what’s being read. I cannot judge since I still do not have my Kindle up and running due to not having Wi Fi, but I’ve heard many complaints from others about poor English and stories riddled with mistakes.  I’m sure there’s  a lot of excellent literature out there at 99p or even free but how can we guide teenagers to be discerning? Is it really important so long as they are enjoying reading?

 

  • The second factor increasing the popularity of reading for young people is the emergence of the Novella or short novels. These are stories of less than 50,000 words which you could read in one sitting, on a train journey for example; appealing in this world where everything has to be instant.

 

  • Collections of short stories are more in vogue! That’s great for a reluctant reader too.

 

  • With so many YA books now on the market this is the best time to encourage our youth to explore the amazing world of print, whether it be in ebook form or real books.

 

In my work with sixteen to nineteen year olds at college I come across young people who are so used to skimming the internet, only reading brief posts by family and friends on facebook and worse still in text form, so that they never sit down to read anything thoroughly, only gleaning the briefest idea of the meaning before moving on.

I think the ‘Six Book Challenge 2012’ is a fantastic idea, especially for young people who have never got into a regular habit of reading. I aim to work with our college library and have a competition for the first six students to meet the challenge by giving me their book reviews in any format, verbally if they like.

 I’ll let you know how it goes!

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February 13, 2012 · 2:10 pm

Save our local libraries

Living in a rural community in Bedfordshire I am so aware of the importance of the local library service especially for the younger and older members of the family. The memories of going to a library as a child are extremely precious for me, to treasure in the same way as going into a sweetshop. Bookshops too are fantastic for kids but there’s nothing like a child being able to browse though a variety of colourful picture books to choose for themselves the ones to borrow for the week ahead. When it is time to leave, what a fantastic way to teach values for a child to take their chosen books to be scanned, stamped in my day of course, and put carefully into Mum, Dad’s or Grandma’s shopping bag. This is even more true for towns which have no bookshop in which to browse. You just can’t get the same relationship with or feel for an online book.

Once at home it’s wonderful for children to experience the rare quiet and solitude of being absorbed in a book, letting their imagination to soar in their fantasy world. This is totally different to watching TV or playing games on the internet. Then of course there’s sharing a book at bedtime. What a soothing end to a child’s day!

For manyof us, our busyworking have cut out the simple pleasure of visiting the library for books, although I have used mine for research purposes, even ordering books unavailable locally. For a small fee I even had one book sent over from a library in Guernsey. That’s service for you. I have also given three talks now in my local libraries, all very enjoyable experiences; platforms to speak of my journey into writing to interested people. As for using the library on a regular basis I have to admit that I don’t. I am torn between using the library and the need to support my favourite local bookshop Horatio’s in Ampthill, with an apostrophe that is! I would be upset if either closed.

During my talks I am aware that other main libray users are people in retirement with more time on their hands to read and less disposable income, especially due to extremely low interest rates on their savings in the last few years. The library is a fantastic, endless resource of reading matter of their choice but it is also a meeting place and somewhere with internet access if they have no computer at home. In the larger libraries there is often a cafe too. The other group, who may have more time to spare to enrich their lives by reading library books, are those unfortunate to be not employed for whatever reason.

With all this in mind I fully support campaigns to keep our local libraries open but like any othet local facility, if you don’t use it, you lose it!

What do you do to support your libraries? Do let me know.

 

Another surprising use of Ampthill library I’ve just discovered in looking for photos is on the blog of Nadine Dorris. Here you can find a picture of the friendly staff at Ampthill library praised for looking after the MP during her surgery.

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