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This Teacher Reads!!
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From: jpcairo
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 16:21:10 -0400
As a teacher/librarian (K-8) in a private independent Quaker school I have always assumed that it was part of my professional obligation to read the books I recommend to kids. I wouldn't think of personally handing over a book to a sixth grader (or anyone) on someone else's recommendation alone. I constantly tell kids about books I have read and liked (loved, sometimes!) And I tell kids if I have not yet read the book they are asking about. Middle School kids can be tough customers. But having worked with them for 13 years gives me the "edge" of knowing what sorts of things will make kids this age sit up and take notice at my school and in my particular "culture" which is diverse, relatively affluent, urban and socially aware.
I think it is fair to say that teachers have to juggle many things at school, maybe even more so at an independent school where you are expected to fill a number of roles simultaneously under the simple contract heading of "teacher." Consider these rhetorical questions: Do reviewers think they are the only ones reading? Or that their mission is chiefly to offer guidance to those who, though unwilling to read, must have SOME way to make decisions about which books to buy for their libraries? Of course not. I think the whole children's book "industry" if you will is a vast and interlinked community that cares tremendously about kids, literacy, and the literary/artistic quality of the materials we are all presenting to our young people.
Book reviewers and publishers have the luxury (which we teachers do not have) of (necessarily) quick access to newly published manuscripts. They are the "first readers" of these things. Many of us teachers and librarians are "second level" readers because we do not have access to new books before they hit the shelves of our local booksellers. We have been talking about "relying" on book reviews, and what helpful information we would like to get from them. I regularly scan the reviews in Booklist, Book Links, School Library Journal, The Horn Book Magazine and The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books for "advance notice" and intelligent discussions of new books worth looking at. My interest has often been piqued by books I hear about on CCBC-net as well, which is why I continue to read the postings here with great faithfulness.
But I frequently can't get copies of the books I really want to read! I have a regular weekly haunt of local bookstores, and yes, they
(mostly) do eventually respond to my inquiries by getting the books I ask for. But there are always some books I have to wait a long time to get.
The upshot of all this is that yes, I do read reviews in publications that I have come to trust, and especially by reviewers whose ideas are, to my way of thinking, seasoned and intelligent (like Betsy Hearne's, for instance), and offer some thoughtful commentary as well as a simple plot outline (which is never enough for me!). I read the books voraciously and non-stop as soon as I can get my hands on them! In fact, I read almost all of the fiction I add to my school library collection before it hits the shelves there. I am a "solo librarian" so I find myself in the position of reviewing, buying and all of the collection?veloping functions often shared by several people in larger libraries. Knowing the kids and knowing the books first hand, I can match my recommendations with the readers pretty successfully.
Paula Cairo paulac at academypo.fss.fss.pvt.k12.pa.us
Received on Sun 20 Sep 1998 03:21:10 PM CDT
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 16:21:10 -0400
As a teacher/librarian (K-8) in a private independent Quaker school I have always assumed that it was part of my professional obligation to read the books I recommend to kids. I wouldn't think of personally handing over a book to a sixth grader (or anyone) on someone else's recommendation alone. I constantly tell kids about books I have read and liked (loved, sometimes!) And I tell kids if I have not yet read the book they are asking about. Middle School kids can be tough customers. But having worked with them for 13 years gives me the "edge" of knowing what sorts of things will make kids this age sit up and take notice at my school and in my particular "culture" which is diverse, relatively affluent, urban and socially aware.
I think it is fair to say that teachers have to juggle many things at school, maybe even more so at an independent school where you are expected to fill a number of roles simultaneously under the simple contract heading of "teacher." Consider these rhetorical questions: Do reviewers think they are the only ones reading? Or that their mission is chiefly to offer guidance to those who, though unwilling to read, must have SOME way to make decisions about which books to buy for their libraries? Of course not. I think the whole children's book "industry" if you will is a vast and interlinked community that cares tremendously about kids, literacy, and the literary/artistic quality of the materials we are all presenting to our young people.
Book reviewers and publishers have the luxury (which we teachers do not have) of (necessarily) quick access to newly published manuscripts. They are the "first readers" of these things. Many of us teachers and librarians are "second level" readers because we do not have access to new books before they hit the shelves of our local booksellers. We have been talking about "relying" on book reviews, and what helpful information we would like to get from them. I regularly scan the reviews in Booklist, Book Links, School Library Journal, The Horn Book Magazine and The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books for "advance notice" and intelligent discussions of new books worth looking at. My interest has often been piqued by books I hear about on CCBC-net as well, which is why I continue to read the postings here with great faithfulness.
But I frequently can't get copies of the books I really want to read! I have a regular weekly haunt of local bookstores, and yes, they
(mostly) do eventually respond to my inquiries by getting the books I ask for. But there are always some books I have to wait a long time to get.
The upshot of all this is that yes, I do read reviews in publications that I have come to trust, and especially by reviewers whose ideas are, to my way of thinking, seasoned and intelligent (like Betsy Hearne's, for instance), and offer some thoughtful commentary as well as a simple plot outline (which is never enough for me!). I read the books voraciously and non-stop as soon as I can get my hands on them! In fact, I read almost all of the fiction I add to my school library collection before it hits the shelves there. I am a "solo librarian" so I find myself in the position of reviewing, buying and all of the collection?veloping functions often shared by several people in larger libraries. Knowing the kids and knowing the books first hand, I can match my recommendations with the readers pretty successfully.
Paula Cairo paulac at academypo.fss.fss.pvt.k12.pa.us
Received on Sun 20 Sep 1998 03:21:10 PM CDT
