I have seen firsthand, across K–12 settings, how classroom libraries change not just reading habits, dispositions, and achievement but also the culture of classrooms, relationships inside and outside of school, and the personal and social lives of children and young adults. If that seems like a stretch, consider the research behind these claims.
In a meta-analysis of studies about engagement, Guthrie and Humenick (2004) found that choice and interest texts—variables linked to excellent classroom libraries—have extraordinarily powerful effects on reading motivation and comprehension. When Peter Johnston and I analyzed the reading experiences of 8th graders whose teachers prioritized engagement through access to top-notch classroom libraries (in 2013 and 2015), we found that not only did students develop their reading competence and motivation, but they also reported and demonstrated shifts in their social-emotional, relational, intellectual, and moral development.
For these students, reading involved not just choosing interesting books and reading silently, but also constantly talking to each other about what they read—in and between classes, in the cafeteria, on the bus ride home, and on the phone in the evenings and on weekends. It is perhaps no coincidence that social interaction was identified by Guthrie and Humenick as another variable with strong effects on reading motivation and comprehension.
How can we maximize the potential of classroom libraries to fuel reading engagement that produces a range of positive consequences? The following principles lead us in the right direction:
1. Think beyond so-called reading level and aim for complexity and meaningfulness.
The appeal of classroom libraries guided by reading level is easy to understand. We want children to have access to books that make sense to them. But there are substantial downsides to leveling libraries: assigning fixed labels to children as readers; damaging students' sense of competence; and limiting children to certain books, which all lessen children's exposure to rich ideas and vocabulary and reduce possibilities for students to pursue topics of interest.
Every classroom, kindergarten through high school, includes students representing a broad spectrum of experiences with reading. We need an equally expansive collection of books in each class that reflects the varied degrees of difficulty. Be strategic in ensuring that children find books that are not only readable but also highly engaging. Particularly with less-experienced readers in mind, collect books that seem approachable at the word level but sophisticated in terms of illustration and content. For example, Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett contains just those four words arranged in different order throughout the book, with brilliant illustrations accompanying each configuration (e.g., "Apple Bear" appears beneath a bear with a multihued apple superimposed on its bottom half).
Some emergent readers in a multiage classroom I visited spent extended time with this book, studying illustrations and the accompanying labels but also noticing other interesting decisions made by the author/illustrator, such as the copyright information written in the shape of a pear. And, book series allow readers to revisit favorite characters in a range of situations. Such engagements, in turn, help to accelerate reading and writing development. Children are more likely to reread, share, and emulate engaging books in their writing, rather than those distinguished mainly by word level readability.
For older inexperienced readers, verse novels—such as Moo by Sharon Creech for upper elementary grades and Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds for the middle grades and beyond—are a good point of entry. In these books, words are used sparingly, but authors make use of figurative language and rich images that help create complex experiences even for novice readers. Attempting to level books like these, along with contemporary multimodal picture books, is not only tricky, but more importantly, misses the point that reading experiences should be thought provoking and provide opportunities to interpret, not just read words correctly.
Another reason to loosen up the parameters on what we make available for children to read: When children are highly interested, they are not so bothered by text complexity. In fact, when engaged readers encounter difficulty, they persist and do whatever it takes to make sense of a text, which is the goal of most reading comprehension instruction.
2. Diversify your collection to include authors and characters along a range of personal, social, and cultural identities.
Make sure that your collection features many books that represent the lives of your students. Recently, I helped an elementary school stock classrooms with books reflecting the school's primary population—African American students. In one classroom where students are massively engaged in reading, you have to look hard to find a book with white characters on the cover rather than black or brown characters. Imagine if all children, upon entering kindergarten, encounter books in which they could envision themselves, their friends, and family alongside the characters and could envision themselves as authors and subjects of stories they might create.
At the same time, do not expect to accurately predict the books that students will find meaningful. Once children figure out that through reading it is sometimes possible to get a better understanding of someone else through characters who are unlike themselves, they do this intentionally. A group of 8th graders I know decided to read a book featuring a gay character with an unaccepting family because a classmate was experiencing this same thing. A reader might find a character interesting not because of shared identity but due to shared human emotions or life experiences, such as having an incarcerated parent, struggling with envy, or worrying over moving to a new school. A diverse collection makes engagement more possible in countless ways.
3. Be intentional about getting books into circulation and about engaging readers.
Amassing a diverse collection of meaningful books is a necessary, but not fully sufficient, strategy if you want a classroom where every student is an engaged reader. I recommend three simple, but powerful, tips for ensuring that classroom libraries are tools for building and sustaining vigorous literacy communities.
First, commit to a daily period for student-selected reading. Many educators have advocated for a certain amount of time set aside each day for student reading, but often with the idea that practice makes perfect. I would suggest a different frame: Engagement takes time. Children, like all of us, need time when starting a book to become engrossed in the social world of the narrative and invested in the characters enough to want to get back to them as soon as possible.
Second, regularly introduce new books to children—three to four every day—by reading short, powerful passages aloud or sharing dynamic illustrations. Once children become engaged readers, you invite them to do the same by asking the class questions such as, "Is anybody just itching to tell us something about their book?" You will also find that peers have a big influence on student reading choices. Create opportunities for students to recruit others to read. Even simple strategies such as asking a child, "Who else in here would love that book?" followed by "Go over and tell them about it right now" can spark peer reading networks.
Third, and related, engaged reading is heavily social, so arranging for students to talk to each other through and about books is essential for success. Children want to talk through interesting things in books that are also a bit confusing, and they want other children's perspectives on those ideas. In addition, talking about books with peers helps to expand relationships with them, and once children figure that out, they want the conversations to keep going. Reading more and more books, including the books their peers have read, is a way to make that happen.
Finally, a word of caution. By attaching your own requirements to children's reading experiences, you could easily cancel out the work of making the classroom library a primary tool for reading engagement. Put bluntly, requiring students to answer to you about their reading choices and experiences—from checking their comprehension to assigning a response log or creative project—undermines students' sense of autonomy. When children are engaged in reading, you will know it, and you will not need them to offer you proof. If you have reason to suspect that students are not reading or are not comprehending what they read, you simply do not have engaged readers. The fix for that is not holding kids accountable, a phrase I often hear, but instead attending more closely to the suggestions outlined here for building a vibrant classroom library that is a reading engagement hub.
