Day 5

Today in the library I was able to spend time with students, helping them find the just right book.  I have noticed some things as I work with students:  they tend to prefer books that have Reading Counts tests, and the older ones almost always ask about a book's Lexile level.  I have tried to suggest titles from the S. C. Book Award nominees list as well as books that I have read myself, but most students avoid those unless they meet one or both of the aforementioned criteria.  This concerns me because they are missing out on some really great books, but more so because I fear that we may be crushing a possible love of reading.  Too many schools today focus solely on a student's reading level before ever considering interests.  While I do see a place for this in a classroom setting, I do not think this should spill over into the library.  We see this issue in the school where I work as well.  Since our collection is not leveled, students are encouraged to do the "five finger test" where they read a page and count mistakes to determine readability.  I just want kids to read and to fall in love with a book, a character, an author.