I was delighted to attend the recent ASCEL conference
on “Libraries – Reading- Culture – Creativity” (although I missed the group of
young readers speaking so passionately about what books and libraries meant to
them http://www.nicolamorgan.com/heartsong-blog/3265/
you can read what they said on Nicola Morgan’s blog).
I took part in a question time panel about “children’s reading and its role within the
artistic, cultural and creative life of the nation.” The panel was chaired
by John Dolan (consultant, Libraries and Regeneration and a CILIP board member)
with the other panellists being Philip Ardagh (author), Hedley Swain (Arts
Council), Dawn Williams (Bridge North East) and Sue Wilkinson (TRA). We didn’t
have any idea of the questions in advance but each one could easily have filled
the whole 90 minutes as they were all so interesting.
Reading as an art form is a fascinating concept.
Knowing I was attending this event got me thinking about this aspect ...
reading is such a basic requirement, far more than the ability to recognise
different musical forms or art genres. And often, if you were to list the
proponents of culture, then books would possibly not be included, reading is
not generally thought of as a cultural activity. Yet stories are one of the
oldest art forms, that oral tradition that has been handed down through the
centuries ... and which eventually translated into writing stories. But the actual cultural form needs to be
acted on to become a cultural activity. Thus we have music being played and
listened to, art being created and looked at, and books written and read.
I can’t help feeling that reading, if it is counted as
a cultural activity, is somehow lower down in the pecking order. If it wasn’t
then we would not be having libraries closing. Maybe it’s because it is not as
exclusive as the other forms, because it is such a basic necessity? Yet it
plays a major role in people’s lives bringing many benefits. And it isn’t just
the act of reading (even though doing so reduces blood pressure and stress), it
is what you read and the effects that are important … escapism,
self-improvement, relaxation, increased knowledge …effects that can be both
immediate and long-term; how many other cultural activities can lay claim to
all this?
As a school librarian I see the consequences of reading
all the time. Those students that develop into readers become more confident
and better at articulating themselves, both verbally and in writing. Research
shows that children who read attain better grades in all subjects. But it’s
hard to measure the impact we have. If I turn a student into a reader and they
then get better grades in two years time. ... that achievement will be assumed
to be down to their teachers. The effect of this improved and wider reading
will not be taken into account and yet reading impacts on everything.
Until this, and the role that librarians play in the
process, is acknowledged … we will never have reading recognised as the important
cultural activity it is.
