Library News
Why read?
The more we read, the more enjoyable it becomes and the more benefits there are (https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1053794).
Some of the benefits of regular reading for enjoyment include:
- Improved comprehension, spelling, grammar and vocabulary
- Fast and automatic word recognition
- Improved academic achievement across all subjects
- Improved health and sense of wellbeing
- Increased empathy for other people (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237109087_What_reading_does_for_the_mind).
So what would make children and young adults read more? Where children understand reading is important, they may be nearly twice as likely to read every day (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0004944118779615). Adults who read are important role models (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1111/eie.12043).
St. Joseph’s College supports a reading culture (https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=232712882860246;res=IELAPA) and offers silent reading to Yr 7-9 students through the subject Reading Room. For more information about the importance of silent reading in schools go to the following link http://theconversation.com/10-ways-to-get-the-most-out-of-silent-reading-in-schools-123531 . This recently published article is written by Dr Margaret Merga, a senior lecturer at Edith Cowen University, Western Australia, who is recognized nationally and internationally as a leading literacy researcher, and co-authored by Ms Gibson, St Joseph’s College Librarian.
Student Buy-in
Student Buy-in is one of the many innovative programs at St. Joseph’s.
Student Buy-in is where each week four Reading Room students (Yrs 7-9) are selected by their Reading Room teacher to go on an excursion with a College Library staff member to Collins Booksellers, Echuca, to buy a book the student would like to read. Each student has a $20 voucher to make their purchase. Students then show their books to their Reading Room teacher and peers, saying what each book is about and why they picked it. The books are then catalogued as part of the Library collection and made available for loan, with a sticker on the front saying who the book was selected by. All the books selected by students are featured in a display in the College Library. Through this program students have increased choice and therefore commitment to what they read; ownership of book selection; reading is acknowledged as a prioritised, important use of time and resources; reading and book selection is seen as a peer activity; and our students are introduced to the experience of being in a bookshop and buying a book of their choice, sometimes for the first time.
Student names and book selections will now be included in each College Newsletter.
This week Year 9 Chisholm students from Ms McAsey’s Reading Room class selected:
The Art of Racing in the Rain (fiction) selected by Nikita Hynes-Cody: “Meet the dog who will show the world how to be human.”
The Rip Curl Story (non-fiction) selected by Jack Pilgrim: “This story will make you want to surf more, travel further, follow through on that great business idea, and pursue your own Search.”
Robin (biography) selected by Sam Lowndes: “Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a beloved performer whose work touched so many lives.”
