Closing the Reading Gap
The gap between boys and girls reading for pleasure increased five times over the lockdown here in the UK.
60% of girls said they enjoyed reading during lockdown compared to 48.9% before while only 48.7% of boys said they enjoyed reading during the lockdown compared to 46.6% before.
Traditionally, boys' reading for pleasure will drop off significantly at around age 13 or 14. This is based on my own observations as a school librarian and studies that show only one-third of UK teen boys enjoy reading for pleasure.
That research is four years old so there is more work to do to understand why boys tend to tune out in regards to reading.
However, at Glenthorne, boys have been consistently borrowing more than girls in the past three years. Does this mean they are reading more? Not necessarily, but it's a step in the right direction, it means they are coming in, they are engaging and they are taking books out.
I don't have a concrete answer as to why this is, but here are some of the things that may play a part.
Keep in mind that girls love these things just as much, these are just activities that I feel are helping bring more boys into the library than we have previously seen. Also keep in mind that the majority of these activities require a full time librarian with a fully supportive leadership team. This is a pipe dream for many schools and I know how fortunate I am to have such a supportive team behind me.
Manga
I also run a weekly manga club. We do games, crafts, quizzes and we watch anime. I wrote an article on how to run a successful manga club here.
Reading Aloud
I read aloud every library lesson to the students. We do Choose Your Own Adventure activities which everyone loves. I read aloud and give the students the choice as to what path to take. Then a student reads and repeats this process. It's a lot of fun, it can get rowdy and I saw the Choose Your Own Adventure books leave the shelves like they were on fire. You can read my article about it here.
Give them Lots of Choice
It's not just about manga, it's about a wide variety of subjects. Comics are an amazing way to get boys into the library. Comics count as reading despite what some people will tell you. More research on the importance of comics are in my article here.
You also need books that just aren't on the shelves at Tesco. Students need to see their own lives reflected in the books that they read. They want to see people like them being the hero. I wrote an article about the importance of book talking and letting students choose which you can read here.
Give them Control
Open Mics, Dungeons and Dragons, Book Club, Manga Club, Film Club, LEGO Club, these are some of the opportunities we provide, boys love them all. Tie these programs in with great books and they will come back repeatedly and borrow more and more. Having a Student Librarian program is also key in my opinion. It tells them that the library space belongs to them, that it can be anything they want it to be.
Author Visits
These aren't always possible, budgets, COVID, travel distance, oh-my. I've been relying on Skype / Teams author visits a lot lately. There is a ton of research out there to show the benefits of author visits.
Boys in particular have responded very well to authors they identify with, like Alex Wheatle for example. When Alex visited the school and discussed his novels it was like a lightning bolt went through the school. We paired his visit with a book club in Year 9 where we read Straight Outta Crongton, it was a very effective way to bring more boys to the library and engage with them in a very direct way.
According to the National Literacy Trust, students who engage with authors:
- Are twice as likely to read above their expected level for their age
- Are more likely to enjoy reading and writing
- Are more likely to be highly confident in their reading
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