When I visit a school in a low-resourced context and see its book collection locked up in the principal’s office, my heart hurts. Each inaccessible book represents lost potential for a child to read, learn, be comforted, joyfully engaged and inspired.
The reasons why books are securely out of children’s reach are remarkably universal across contexts: children will spoil or lose them. A scarce resource is a precious one. However, the value of a book is not merely in its existence, but in its active use.
Today, on World Book and Copyright Day, it seems fitting to reflect on how to promote the use of books by children and encourage a love of reading.
Drawing on more than 2 decades of global experience implementing a comprehensive literacy portfolio that includes the explicit instruction of literacy skills in the early grades, establishing school library programs, and publishing children’s literature and instruction materials, 4 key lessons have emerged on how to promote effective book use:
1. Ensure books are within children’s reach.
Unlock the cupboards in the principals’ offices, dust the books and turn an exhibit into a resource. Having access to books is fundamental to using them effectively.
School libraries and classroom reading corners can achieve this by:
- Offering welcoming spaces where books are displayed and within reach of even the youngest users
- Providing time for children to browse and choose books freely
- Having checkout procedures so that books can be borrowed and read in homes and communities.
Establishing a usable book collection for young children requires a change in attitude of the gatekeepers of books. Children benefit from using books even if they’re not yet reading independently. Children can be taught to care for books. And it’s natural for a well-loved book to appear worn or for an occasional book to be lost.
When books are accessible, children use them. Within Room to Read’s early literacy program, more than 6.7 million books were checked out from school libraries by children in 2022, with a global average of 11.4 books borrowed per child and the highest average of 32.9 in Cambodia.