In my first Shelf Space post, I mentioned that one way to give children the gift of reading is to “Demonstrate a culture that values reading, all types of reading.” There’s been a great response to the article, and especially to that sentence (see this post at Finding Wonderland, for example). So I thought that I would discuss the idea of creating a culture of reading in more detail.

Creating a culture of reading is about more than just setting an example for children (though that’s clearly something that I think is important). Creating a culture of reading is about deciding what kind of a world we want to be part of. Do we want to live in a society that values books and reading, or not? The alternative, living in a society in which libraries fall into disuse and reading is a marginalized activity, is unthinkable. If our culture values reading, then people and libraries will continue to buy books. Publishers will continue to publish them, and authors will continue to write them. We’ll continue to have great stories at our fingertips. We’ll also have an ongoing exchange of ideas. People will use books to learn about other cultures and other viewpoints. Literate, educated members of society will ask more of our leaders, and be less likely to leave poor decisions unchallenged. A culture of reading is a culture of imagination and understanding.

Even people who don’t read for pleasure themselves benefit from a culture that values books and reading. The movie and television industries have more great books to choose from. The kids who grow up loving books get more out of their educations, and are more likely to accomplish great things. There is even evidence to suggest that kids who are good readers are less likely to end up on the wrong side of the criminal justice system. If we invest in raising readers now, we’re likely to save later, by having to support fewer inmates. The rewards of a literate society are endless.

Our current society does place value on literacy, of course. Our medical schools, law schools, and business schools are filled with people who are proficient readers. But I believe that we have a long way to go here in creating a culture that truly values books and reading. Many other countries have even further to go. If you are so motivated, here are a few things that you can do to help.

If you want to create a culture of reading, you can …

Buy books for the holidays: There’s a cross-blog initiative going on right now, organized by Amy from My Friend Amy, encouraging people to buys books as holiday gifts this year. There’s a special Books for the Holidays Blog, which Amy describes as “a collaborative blog that will showcase books, serve as a central point where we can all report our progress, give bloggers a chance to showcase reviews by genre, help people find the perfect book for that difficult or challenging person on your list, announce internet or bookstore specials, and raise awareness of literacy charities to promote a culture of reading in the future.” I really do think that by giving the people in our lives books as gifts, we help to demonstrate a culture of reading within our own personal communities.

Prioritize reading in your life: Turn off the TV. Make time to visit the library. Keep a book with you for times when you’re stuck in traffic. Listen to audiobooks on road trips, or while you’re folding laundry or doing the dishes. Even those of us who are voracious readers are susceptible to the pull of other things, from blogging to errands to playing solitaire on the computer, and a million other things in between. But the truth is that if we really WANT to read, we can usually find some time for it, if we look hard enough.

Support an organization that puts books into needy people’s hands: If we truly want a world-wide culture of reading, then we must help more people to gain access to books, especially children. Here are just a few ideas:

•    Every December I donate books to the San Jose Mercury News Gift of Reading program. The program accepts donations of like-new books and distributes them to under-served children and to classroom libraries. Wherever you live, there’s bound to be some program like this. Or you can donate books to a library, school, Ronald McDonald house, or local hospital. (For a specific idea about donating books, see this post from Charlotte’s Library.)
•    There are many other wonderful programs that put books into people’s hands, including First Book, Reading is Fundamental, Reach Out and Read, Room to Read, and Cops ‘N Kids. (You can find a list of several others in the right-hand sidebar of my blog.) Most of these programs welcome donations of money or time (and sometimes books – you need to check with the individual program).
•    I especially wanted to mention the Ethiopia Reads program, which strives to “create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books.” Program founder Yohannes Gebregeorgis is currently in the running for CNN hero of the year. It would certainly demonstrate that we have a culture of reading in the US if our hero of the year turned out to be the founder of a literacy program. (Voting, alas, ended November 20th). In general, bringing people like Gebregeorgis to the public’s attention is a way to support a culture of reading.

Work on raising the next generation of readers: I already talked about this in detail in my first Shelf Space post, but the general idea is worth repeating. Anything that you can do to help the children in your life to respect and appreciate books and to find reading fun will reap tremendous dividends.

What do you all think? What are other ways that we can encourage a culture of reading?

Special thanks to Tanita Davis for inspiring this article, through her words in support of a culture of reading.

Posted by: Jen Robinson

This is my third year as an organizer for the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards (commonly known as the Cybils), and my first year as Literacy Evangelist. The Cybils are a series of book awards given in nine categories (Fiction Picture Books, Nonfiction Picture Books, Easy Readers, Middle Grade Fiction, Nonfiction: Middle Grade and Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction, Poetry, Graphic Novels, and Fantasy and Science Fiction). The Cybils were started by Anne Boles Levy and Kelly Herold, and now involve nearly 100 bloggers. The goal of the Cybils team is to highlight books that, in addition to being well-written, are kid-friendly and engaging.

The Cybils combine a democratic nomination process with a formal judging process. Anyone can nominate books, one title per person per category. Once the nominations are in, a teams of panelists reads all of the books, and comes up with short lists for each category. A second round of judging then takes place. The result is a winner for each category.

I believe that the Cybils have the potential to make a tremendous contribution to children’s literacy. Every year, thousands of new children’s books are published. While this variety is wonderful, the sheer magnitude of titles makes it difficult for parents and teachers, and even for librarians, to help kids choose books. And if we’re going to engage kids as readers, we have to offer them GREAT books. The books exist—but people don’t always have an easy way to find them. The Cybils, with their focus on literary quality and kid-appeal, give people a place to start. The long lists offer a smorgasbord of titles, handily grouped by age range and genre. They include everything from National Book Award nominees to self-published titles. This year, we have 841 eligible titles across the nine categories. Panelists are reading diligently to winnow this down to 50 or so short list titles by January 1st.

I believe that the Cybils short lists (5 to 7 titles per category) are an amazing resource. Great titles, vetted by people who, in many cases, read hundreds of children’s books each year. Books assessed with an eye to page-turner appeal, in addition to literary quality. I would like to see these short lists in the hands of parents, teachers, and librarians from around the world. My role in this year’s Cybils awards is to help spread the word about these awards beyond the circle of the bloggers and authors involved. That makes me a Literacy Evangelist. I’m a cheerleader for the Cybils, and for getting kids excited about reading. I’m the person jumping up and down (virtually, anyway) asking people to tell their friends and colleagues about the Cybils.

So far, this evangelism has been a success. Dozens and dozens of bloggers helped to spread the word about the Cybils nominations. People posted on discussion groups, and mentioned the Cybils in their newsletters, and asked their contacts outside of the immediate circle of children’s book blogs to do the same. People Twittered, made widgets, and started a Cybils group on Facebook. People offered to mention the Cybils at conferences, and passed out bookmarks. Far too many people helped for me to thank them all individually here, but I am grateful to everyone who has mentioned, and continues to mention, the Cybils. (We do have some media highlights on the Cybils blog, thanks to our Deputy Editor Sarah Stevenson.)

As a result of these efforts, despite the fact that the nominating period was shortened from six weeks to two weeks this year, we increased the number of nominations by nearly 50% (from 575 last year to 841 this year). And although I don’t have any formal statistics for this, I am certain that we received nominations from a more broad range of contributors. All of this is a testament to the power of grass root communication, by people who are passionate about children’s and young adult books. I’m planning a similar outreach campaign once the short lists are available, and I hope to get those lists into the hands of as many people as possible. Because that is what a Cybils Literacy Evangelist does—lets people know about pre-vetted, excellent children’s and young adult books, so that we together can help raise a new generation of readers. If you have suggestions, or you’d like to help, I would love to hear from you.

Posted by: Jen Robinson

Halloween is over, and the holiday lights will be up any day now. People are starting to think about what gifts to give to their children this year (a more difficult question than usual, in the presence of the struggling economy). I ask you to consider a gift for children that will benefit them for a lifetime: the gift of reading. I believe that a love of books is one of the most valuable gifts that adults can give to the children in their care. I’m talking about parents, teachers, librarians, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors – anyone who has children that they care about, whether related or not. If you interact with children, if you talk with them or teach them, if you buy them presents, if they look up to you in any way, then YOU have the power to give them the gift of reading.

I’m not talking about kids learning to read, so much, but about kids learning to love reading. Kids who enjoy reading will, naturally, spend more time at it. This in turn will help them to become better readers. They’ll improve their vocabularies, and they’ll learn, painlessly, about everything from writing to science. They’ll learn to read more quickly. They’ll test well. Their confidence will increase. Studies have even shown that kids who enjoy reading do better at math. Doctors and lawyers who have good reading comprehension skills have a huge advantage during their training. And so on.

Those are just the academic benefits. Kids who enjoy reading will spend time with characters from Pippi Longstocking to Percy Jackson. Their imaginations will soar. They’ll try out new interests, through books, and some of these will form lifelong passions. They’ll learn from Anne Shirley and Hermione Granger and Bilbo Baggins about friendship and loyalty and bravery. They’ll learn to entertain themselves, and to assimilate different viewpoints. All of history will be at their fingertips, and their futures will be limitless.

So what can you do, as an adult, to give this gift of reading to the children around you? Here are just a few suggestions. (For a much more comprehensive approach to the subject of encouraging young readers, I highly recommend The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease.)

1. Read aloud to your children or students. Keep reading aloud to them even after they are old enough to read themselves, and for as long as they’ll let you. By reading aloud to kids, you show them that reading is important, and more importantly, you show that reading is an enjoyable experience. You can also read them books that they aren’t ready for on their own, and you can discuss the books with them. You get quality time together, and you both get to experience wonderful books. Reading together is one of the greatest win-win experiences there is.

2. Let the children in your life see that reading is important to you. Mention it when you encounter something interesting in a book or a newspaper. Turn off the TV, and let kids see you reading for relaxation. Bring books for everyone when you travel on planes. Listen to audiobooks in your car on road trips. Clutter up your house with books and magazines and newspapers. Demonstrate a culture that values reading, all types of reading.

3. Read the books that your children read. Once your kids are reading on their own, an excellent way to show them how much you value their reading is for you to read some of their books on your own. This helps you to learn your children’s taste, and to recommend other titles for them. And it opens doors for discussion. I believe that if more parents could find the time to read their children’s books, there would be less of a drop-off in reading for pleasure as kids get older.

4. Whenever you can, give kids books and magazines. They don’t have to be new. If you can’t afford to buy them you can give the temporary gift of library books. But if you’re in a position to buy books, this tangible gift has several advantages. First, you again demonstrate that you think reading is important, by putting your money where your mouth is. Second, many kids derive pride from ownership. Also, when kids own books, they have the chance to read them over and over again. Re-reading beloved books is something that reinforces the enjoyment of reading. Then there’s sheer proximity. If there are plenty of books around, kids are more likely to pick them up.

5. Let kids read what they enjoy. A fundamental aspect of human nature is that people spend more time doing the things that they enjoy. The most important thing that you can do, if you want kids to like reading, is to make reading as enjoyable an experience as possible. Pushing kids to read books that are above their age range, or are about things that they aren’t interested in, is counter-productive. All types of reading for pleasure count. If your child likes graphic novels, or nonfiction, or sports magazines, you should encourage that. The important thing is that they enjoy what they read. This is a key part of Jon Scieszka’s platform as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. (Here we’re talking about reading for pleasure – of course other types of reading take place in schools.)

6. Start a children’s book blog, so that you can read and review children’s books, and talk about literacy, as much as you like.

OK, this last one isn’t for everyone, but it has been quite rewarding for me. But seriously, even if you don’t have children of your own, and you don’t have a blog, there are plenty of ways that you can give the gift of reading. I seize every opportunity to read aloud or talk books with my friends’ children. I buy our nieces books for every conceivable occasion, and I donate my extra review books so that they’ll end up in the hands of other kids. When children come to our house, the first thing they see is shelves upon shelves of books. And I model reading behavior every single time I’m on an airplane. I do whatever I can, because I think that encouraging young readers is important.

If you can help the kids in your life, in even a small way, to enjoy books and reading, you will give them a gift that will transform their lives, and continue to reward them forever.

Posted by: Jen Robinson