School Librarian Interview on Current Trends in Children's Literature

In order to dig a little deeper into current issues and trends in children’s literature I thought it would be best to ask someone that deals with these issues and trends on a daily basis. The children’s librarian that works at my son’s elementary school has been with the district for many years, and I thought this would be a great place to start my investigation into what experts believe are the current trends for young readers. I decided to come up with a set of interview questions I thought gave me the proper insight into not only the librarian’s perspective on children’s literature today, but also her own personal experience dealing with young readers and teachers alike. Here’s the full interview and what she had to say on the subject:

10 Children’s Librarian Interview questions:

1.  How long have you worked as a children’s librarian? I’ve been here at the school library for about 11 years now, but before that I was the children’s librarian at a public library for 13 years.

2. What is your favorite thing about being a children’s librarian? I genuinely love children and I love reading. To be able to be a part of helping children develop a life long love of reading is one of the things that drew me to library work in the first place. 

3. What do you feel are some of the current issues or trends in children’s literature today? One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of our children tend to gravitate toward fiction books, especially books about tv shows they watch or videogames they play. Comic books and graphic novels are also a lot more popular than they used to be with young readers. We will have to occasional child pick up a non-fiction book, but it’s usually about something that interests them, like animals or different places they’d like to visit.

4. Do you teach children how to properly use the library or do they just look for books on their own? We do show them how to find the books that they’d like to read. We’re a small school and we don’t really have access to the resources that bigger schools might have. We get a lot of donated books but do have a small budget for new materials. But we’re not automated or online at all. All check-outs are handled manually and written down, so the students know what they need to do to check out materials and how long they make keep them checked out.

5. Are students only allowed to read or check out certain books according to class/reading level? Yes, our school participates in the Accelerated Reader (AR) program, so materials are pulled for certain classes and age/reading groups and displayed accordingly.

6. Do you prefer books? Or do you think children do better with other media types to learn to read? As an old school librarian, I always prefer actual books to online reading or audiobooks. However, I do understand that we live in an automated society and people are more prone to the convenience of electronic materials. Children, especially, prefer electronic devices as a source of entertainment and information.

7. What types of technology do you have available to students in the library? We don’t have any electronics in our library, no computers or iPads. There are computers in the classrooms now, and most of the AR tests for books that they read are done electronically in the student’s classroom now.

8. What are some of the more common books/series do you recommend students read? It really depends on the age group or reading level of the child. For younger children The Berenstain Bears series by Mercer Meyer is a great place to start with their solid life lessons and colorful illustrations. For older kids I always tend to point them toward the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. These books are unique in the fact that they tend to grow with a child the further along in the series you go.

9. Do teachers and curriculum have any effect on what you purchase/order for students? They do to some extent. We try to coordinate with teachers at the beginning of the year by asking them if there is any reading materials we could purchase that would benefit or compliment their lessons and we try to buy accordingly. What we can’t buy we try to supplement with materials that we already have available.

10. What do you suggest to students and parents when asked what they can do to help students develop a love of reading? Start early! Read to them, then read with them, the earlier the better. Not only does it help them develop stronger English and reading skills later, but it also gives you something to do together, as a family. The more positive feelings they have about reading times, the more likely it is to stay with them in the future.