On the national front and in individual libraries (including mine), there's been quite a firestorm over
Accelerated Reader, I'm guessing since the program started.
Some love it. Some hate it.
Others, like me, think it's a necessary evil that's not as bad as most opponents make it out to be.
So far, I've refrained from saying too much about it, not only because I don't have a definite opinion (surprise, surprise), but also because my school uses the program from 1st through 12th grades.
The reason I'm writing on it now is because of comments in this month's
School Library Journal by Pat Scales in her "Scales on Censorship" column.
A reader wrote in asking about restricting students to their A.R. reading levels.
Scales says "The
American Library Association discourages placing prejudicial labels on library materials...it's censorship when students are only allowed to take out materials that match their reading levels."
I understand where she's coming from, and for public libraries and school libraries that do not use A.R. to the extent we do, this is definitely the way to go.
However, it's a different story here at
ACA.
As far as shelving the books by grade level...for us, it's simply a matter of efficiency. We shelve our A.R. picture books by level because it just becomes impossible to keep them straight any other way. Our chapter books for younger readers and novels for older students are all shelved by the author. (We still use Dewey for non-fiction.)
On a larger issue of letting students read what they want when they want, that's a little more difficult.
Our students (1st-12th grades) are required to have a certain number of A.R. points per semester. This number of points determines their reading grade. The elementary teachers do not allow students to check out books that are not on their reading levels until they have all their points. Our hands are tied on that matter.
Meanwhile, high school reading teachers also require their students to read above a certain level until they have all of their points.
I understand that this seems restrictive, but when reading is a class (just like math or English), there have to be some restrictions in place.
Others have complained about the toll A.R. takes on public libraries. Anytime you're serving several elementary schools, you're going to have a shortage of the popular books (or the required books for English classes).
As far as our system goes, there are no required A.R. reading lists, which helps the above-mentioned problem and provides students with more options of what to read.
Also, our high school students have a reading class everyday. That's 45 minutes with nothing to do but read. No excuses. Our library has an admirable collection that gives them plenty of options. Again, there is no required reading list.
So, as I said, my overall position on A.R. is not definite. I admit there are problems, but, overall, it's forced more of our students to read on a more regular basis. Consequently, test scores have improved, and several graduates have returned to say "thanks" because they're now avid readers--voluntarily!
Moving on...what would one of my posts be without a collection of links?
A
book collecting competition for UA students. I wish...I wish...I wish in vain...I wish I was a student again...
ALA resources for book displays.
Former
SLIS student Paul Moxon is highlighted in
TIME magazine.
I'd love to hear comments on your experiences, if I can make sure that feature works!
