A Prereading Strategy: Book Ownership

Owning books is a powerful "prereading strategy" (Lesesne, 2006). When children buy books or receive books as presents, they end up wanting to read more. Through grants funded by the Reading is Fundamental (RIF) organization Lesesne's school library was able to allow students to keep books that they checked out. Several researchers have documented a connection between owning books and reading. In general, less affluent families purchase less books than affluent families. This makes sense. When you have barely enough money to put food on the table, are you going to buy books? The lack of books that these families own translates into children being less likely to develop into readers. 


Children from more affluent families, who have lots of books, see themselves as readers.
Subconsciously, the knowledge of being surrounded by books sends kids the message that books are important. They watch their parents reading and are motivated by this. Their parents read to them more than parents who do not see themselves as readers. Stephen Krashen writes: "children and adolescents from low-income families have very little access to interesting and comprehensible reading material at home, in their neighborhoods, and even at school. It is because of this lack of access to books that these students are the ones who score lowest on tests of reading" (Lesesne, p.42). 

Lesesne's words of wisdom on how to place more books into the hands of less affluent children is promising but falls short of widespread changes. Points from book clubs for free books are one example. She encourages teachers and librarians to do whatever is in their power to allow children to keep books that matter to them. Lesesne provides an endless stream of suggestions on how to add books to children’s home libraries. Allowing children to keep material they value for longer periods of time is but one example. It is clear that Lesesne’s heart is in the right place, however, translating her suggestions beyond the confines of the school library is a riddle I can't solve. For change to be useful, it must come from a higher sphere. Individual librarians may wish to change policy, but without the help of those in power are at a loss. Allowing one child to keep a book longer than another, for example, is in direct opposition to library policy, which states that everyone should be treated equally. Of course, nothing is equal. Public libraries are far from equal bastions of learning. Those housed in richer areas invariably have broader collections than those housed in poorer sections. Libraries in affluent neighborhoods also offer more services and employ more staff. 

While I understand that owning books is a powerful reading motivator, I sometimes wonder whether we're making too much of this. Popular librarian Nancy Pearl has written about falling in love with books at the library. She grew up in a poor family in Detroit, which lacked the resources to purchase books. So she made the library her home. She gobbled up every book she could find and made friends with librarians. Theo, the eleven-year-old heroine from Kit Person’s Awake and Dreaming followed a similar trajectory, developing into an avid reader despite the lack of books at home. Instead of focusing on book ownership, I think it is more useful, much more meaningful, to understand the psychology of those from non-affluent families who do become readers. Are they readers because of innate differences, or do they become turned onto books via the helpful ministrations of librarians, teachers, or other adults? How can we as librarians step in and meet the needs of this economically disadvantaged group? 

 Lesesne, T.S. (2006). Naked reading: Uncovering what tweens need to become

 lifelong readers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.