Every school should have library periods
Developing a reading habit from early childhood is crucial. It fosters a lifelong connection with books, which is increasingly important in a world dominated by passive consumption of short-form content. Developing a reading habit today is hard work and challenging.
Traditional schooling does very little in this regard. Any reading is pedagogical and aligned with some incentive: to do homework or to pass exams. Schools seldom encourage exploring books for fun, the joy of learning new things or just exposure.
I posit that:
- having a good library offering, and
- setting aside dedicated timeslots for students to read for pleasure and exposure
will encourage them to build a reading habit, discover various forms, genres, and cultivate new interests. It will also help them eventually develop new lenses for looking at and understanding the world.
My hypothesis is based on personal experience. Back in my high school, we had about two 45-minute “library” periods each week. Our English teacher would pick up a few books (mostly fiction) from the library for these periods. We would then take turns in a certain order – which escapes me now – to choose books to read.
This introduced me to a variety of books including classics like Sherlock Holmes, Gulliver’s Travels, Tom Sawyer, Around the world in 80 days, The importance of being earnest, Robinson Crusoe, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, etc:. It also got me reading popular series like Goosebumps, Hardy Boys, The Secret Seven, Animorphs, and then to Harry Potter.
The selection process wasn’t perfect of course. Not everyone was happy with the books they picked. The unhappy ones would skip reading and informally exchange books with fellow classmates. We would also discuss books, and what we liked/disliked about them.
Nostalgia aside, maintaining a library or implementing library periods is relatively inexpensive, and they together provide opportunities to help students find joy in reading and develop perspectives without the blinders of conventional education. By fostering a love for reading, we give them the tools for lifelong learning and personal growth.