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Do teachers read book reviews?
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From: robin smith <smithrobinlynn>
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 05:40:55 PDT
Dear CCBCers, It has been most interesting to read the weekend's discussion in one fell swoop. 1. I have worked as a bookseller and as a teacher for all of my post-college life and I must agree that teachers do not read reviews as often as they should. However, most schools do not make reviews easily available to teachers. The subscriptions are expensive and librarian fear losing their precious copies of the Horn Book and Booklist. Word of mouth, a rather wonderful review device, is the standard for those teachers who wish to stay current. Recently, my school, through a rather generous grant to the English department, has provided copies of the Horn Book and Booklist to every elementary school teacher and all middle school Engish teachers. The school hopes that this action will greatly enhance the teachers' knowledge of current books. I, of course, am THRILLED that I can curl up with my own copies of these fine journals and can then take the dogeared magazines to the library and bookstore. Along with Booklinks, the Reading Teacher and a variety of newspaper and magazine reviews allow me to keep current. This website and conversation helps a great deal. My excellent local bookstore is well-stocked when I go to search out books I have read about in the journals.
2. At my school, some teachers read. Some of the best readers are not lower-school (K-6) teachers...one of the best readers on our staff last year was a PE teacher. I am envious when I read about energetic librarians who stay current and share their love of books with colleagues and children alike. I have worked in a number of private schools and have found teachers to be much more enthusiastic about books than the librarians. (Though we have a new librarian at our school and things are looking up!) I meet lots of wonderful public librarians and learn about new books from them.
3. To get back to my point of word-of-mouth reviews, I still think the personal touch with a book--whether it be with a student or a colleague--is the most powerful one. So when a colleague, bookseller, librarian or the Engish Department chair hands me a book OR xeroxes a review and says, "I think you would like this," I tend to get right to it.
Thank you for all the wonderful food for thought.
Robin Smith Ensworth School Nashville, TN
education
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Received on Mon 21 Sep 1998 07:40:55 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 05:40:55 PDT
Dear CCBCers, It has been most interesting to read the weekend's discussion in one fell swoop. 1. I have worked as a bookseller and as a teacher for all of my post-college life and I must agree that teachers do not read reviews as often as they should. However, most schools do not make reviews easily available to teachers. The subscriptions are expensive and librarian fear losing their precious copies of the Horn Book and Booklist. Word of mouth, a rather wonderful review device, is the standard for those teachers who wish to stay current. Recently, my school, through a rather generous grant to the English department, has provided copies of the Horn Book and Booklist to every elementary school teacher and all middle school Engish teachers. The school hopes that this action will greatly enhance the teachers' knowledge of current books. I, of course, am THRILLED that I can curl up with my own copies of these fine journals and can then take the dogeared magazines to the library and bookstore. Along with Booklinks, the Reading Teacher and a variety of newspaper and magazine reviews allow me to keep current. This website and conversation helps a great deal. My excellent local bookstore is well-stocked when I go to search out books I have read about in the journals.
2. At my school, some teachers read. Some of the best readers are not lower-school (K-6) teachers...one of the best readers on our staff last year was a PE teacher. I am envious when I read about energetic librarians who stay current and share their love of books with colleagues and children alike. I have worked in a number of private schools and have found teachers to be much more enthusiastic about books than the librarians. (Though we have a new librarian at our school and things are looking up!) I meet lots of wonderful public librarians and learn about new books from them.
3. To get back to my point of word-of-mouth reviews, I still think the personal touch with a book--whether it be with a student or a colleague--is the most powerful one. So when a colleague, bookseller, librarian or the Engish Department chair hands me a book OR xeroxes a review and says, "I think you would like this," I tend to get right to it.
Thank you for all the wonderful food for thought.
Robin Smith Ensworth School Nashville, TN
education
______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Received on Mon 21 Sep 1998 07:40:55 AM CDT
