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Running head: ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 1 Adolescent Literacy and the Public Library Michele Lockleair University of North Carolina at Greensboro 19 April 2015

Adolescent Literacy Action Research

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Research on what adolescent literacy is and what the public library can do to to improve it.

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Running head: ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 1

Adolescent Literacy and the Public Library

Michele Lockleair

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

19 April 2015

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 2

Adolescent Literacy and the Public Library

What is literacy?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines literacy as “the ability to read and write” and

“knowledge that relates to a specified subject” (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Adolescent literacy in

the 21st century is more than decoding words on a page or knowing information about a subject.

It is more than simply being able to read and write, students need the “ability to comprehend

difficult texts and to communicate socially and electronically in effective and meaningful ways”

(Wendt, 2013). Even this is not enough in today’s technological society. Comprehension may be

the next step in literacy, and even though “the comprehension piece is important, one needs to

even go beyond that to the interpretation and making meaning place” (Braun, 2004). Elizabeth

Birr Moje describes this process as being able to understand “what the author is trying to say and

then making meaning of it” (Braun, 2004). Even this step leaves something out. Students “also

need to be able to make meaning across texts…make meaning out of one text and then make

meaning of that text in the context of another text…to synthesize ideas across texts” (Braun,

2004). Unfortunately, as studies have found “many secondary students lack basic literacy skills”

(Wendt, 2013). Today’s students deserve better than this. They deserve an education that will

ensure their place in the workforce and as a healthy part of society. Heller explains that it is

increasingly “impossible to find a decent entry-level job without at least a two-year college

degree,” and even if they do get the job, “workers are finding it increasingly difficult to climb the

career ladder unless they have the ability to communicate effectively, both in person and in

writing” (The Scope of Adolescent Literacy Crisis, 2015). Heller states that according to a report

from the Educational Testing service that “if middle and high schools continue to churn out large

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 3

numbers of students who lack the ability to read critically, write clearly, and communicate

effectively, then the labor market will soon be flooded with young people who have little to offer

employers and who cannot handle the jobs that are available” (The Scope of Adolescent Literacy

Crisis, 2015). Most schools teach reading and writing through the third grade and believe this is

effective, but “literacy skills need to be explicitly taught throughout the adolescent years”

(Marchand-Martella, Martella, Modderman, Peterson, & Pan, 2013).

What is the problem?

America faces an education crisis. The problem should not be considered an elementary

problem, it is the problem of anyone that has contact with children of all ages from elementary to

middle to high school. According to The Alliance for Excellent Education “the majority of

students are leaving high school without the reading and writing skills needed to succeed in

college and a career” (Haynes, 2014). The National Assessment of Educational progress showed

that “more than 60 percent of middle and high school students scored below the “proficient”

level in reading achievement” (Haynes, 2014). This tells us that “millions of young people

cannot understand or evaluate text, provide relevant details, or support inferences about the

written documents they read” (Haynes, 2014). For the past three decades “the majority of the

nation’s secondary school students have failed to demonstrate the expected competence in

reading and writing, and only a handful of students – 3 percent of 8th graders, in 2007 – have

been found to read at an advanced level” (Heller, 2015). The statistics available show just how

dire our situation in the United States has become.

25% of all public high school students fail to graduate on time

74% of U.S. eighth-graders read below the proficient level

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 4

21% of public secondary schools do not have a paid, full-time, state-certified

librarian

49% of public libraries do not have one full-time staff member dedicated to youth

services

(YALSA)

The United Stated used to be the most powerful nation in the world and now they have “slipped

in the world rankings to 11 out of 32 developed nations in college completion rates” (Morrell,

2010). There needs to be “increased federal attention to and funding for education” (Morrell,

2010). Even though “The United States holds only five percent of the world’s population,” we

spend “as much on our defense as the rest of the world combined” (Morrell, 2010). If we believe

that education and literacy are fundamental to our nation then “we have to spend on education

like we do on our national security” (Morrell, 2010). The US Department of Education is playing

the blame game by stating that “the problem lies with uninformed teachers, unskilled and

unmotivated students, and school districts that hold students to low standards (Morrell, 2010).

This only leads to “increased standardization and increased assessment without increased

investment in the human capital of teachers and students and communities” (Morrell, 2010).

Fletcher points out that “Duffy and Hoffman questioned the emphasis on school and teacher

effectiveness being measured by increases in reading outcomes using standardised tests. They

expressed concern that as teachers are placed in a position where “teaching to the test” is

seemingly obligatory, that there will be diminished opportunities to use high order thinking

skills” (A review of "effective" reading literacy practices for young adolescent 11 to 13 year old

students, 2014). This is a politically driven policy. On the other hand, this is a plus for the public

library because they are “not bound by a certain curriculum that must be met, a certain

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 5

standardized test that students must pass, and so have a great deal of freedom that school

educators do not enjoy. The library is posed to be a great asset to the community and marvelous

supplement to schooling systems” (Blair, 2010). Even so, the government needs to take

responsibility for its part in this situations because “critical literacy is a matter of life and death”

(Morrell, 2010). We must equip schools with the tools they need and “the new media resources

that are required to tap into students’ facility with 21st-century literacies as we leverage this

knowledge and motivation to teach students academic skills and concepts” (Morrell, 2010). Then

we need to invest in our youths and pay attention to them, we need to understand them - “how

they live, what they do, who they are, and what they need” (Morrell, 2010). We need to promote

“youths and their talents and tell them that we believe in them, we are proud of them, we hear

them” (Morrell, 2010).

What can public libraries do?

So, we can see that adolescent literacy is important and that change is needed, but that is

the job of the education system, right? Yes, the public education sector and the government need

to take steps to increase literacy across all sectors of education, but the public library is part of

the equation. Public libraries have always been part of the local community and have a vested

interest in the success of the children and teens, because they will grow up to, hopefully, be

productive adults in the community and supporters of the public library. Libraries are an

extension of the education system. They are “a nexus for informal learning, offering interest-

driven programming with the support of a librarian” (Martin, 2015). “Public libraries are

community information centers, informal educational centers, and cultural centers” (Gilton,

2008). Libraries “have always supplemented the work of teachers and school library media

specialists by providing homework assistance for teens in addition to cultural programs that

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 6

promote the love of reading” (Gilton, 2008). The informal setting of the public library can

actually lead to better learning. Research shows that “youth learn in completely informal spaces

such as fan fiction and video game communities” (Martin, 2015). Public libraries that are tapping

into this “technology can support inquiry-, interest-, and project-focused learning” (Martin,

2015). The public library is “situated in the perfect place between school and home to help youth

achieve” (Martin, 2015). Many public libraries have already added anime clubs, gaming days,

and computer workshops to their programming lineup and “Gale suggests programming that

includes content creation, problem solving, discovery, collaboration, and multiple literacies, such

as interactive media teen book clubs and video blog workshops” (Martin, 2015) can help teens

succeed and leads to increased literacy.

Studies that looked at why teens dropped out of school revealed that “81% of dropouts

said they did not feel that school was relevant to them, and 47% of dropouts said that classes

were not interesting” (Martin, 2015). Martin also expresses the fact that “youth exposure to a

variety of experiences can have profound effects on youth interests and their approach to career

and future pathways” (2015). Youth and teen librarians need to reach out to teens and show them

that they care and make “connections between people and information” (Jones, CONNECTING

YOUNG ADULTS AND LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY, 2007). Jones goes on to say

that librarians that

“respect the unique needs of teenagers will be approachable, nonjudgmental, and

accepting. They will be encouraging, tolerant, patient, persistent, and emphatic.

They will understand young adults – their psychology, their literature, and even

their popular culture. They will advocate for intellectual freedom, for free access,

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 7

and for solving problems to knock down barriers to youth access. They will have

a sense of humour, involve youth, and be creative.”

(CONNECTING YOUNG ADULTS AND LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST

CENTURY, 2007)

In order to produce healthy teens and healthy communities we need to create “environments that

support the social, emotional, spiritual, physical, moral, and cognitive development of young

people.” (Jones, CONNECTING YOUNG ADULTS AND LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST

CENTURY, 2007). Public libraries, just like public schools, cannot do all of this on their own it

needs to be “holistic and include families, teachers, and other members of the community who

work to provide healthy youth development activities for young adults” (Jones, New directions

for serving young adults means building more than our collections, 2002). We need to engage

teens “daily with text and technology in such a way that they become more successful students

and healthier human beings” (Jones, New directions for serving young adults means building

more than our collections, 2002).

There also needs to be more collaboration between public teen librarians and school

media librarians as well as teachers. Teen librarians should visit the school library and the school

media librarian should spend more time at the public library. This communication can help

increase literacy across all areas. Of course, “teen librarians should not try to do everything that

is the main responsibility of the existing school library media specialist; but they should

definitely creatively supplement and support what school library media specialists already do”

(Gilton, 2008).

The public library has an advantage over the school and other systems because they “can

offer a space where teenagers can come and enjoy using technology they may not get anywhere

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 8

else, where they can interact with their peers in formal and informal ways. They can also interact

with adults in an open environment receptive to possibilities and take an active part in

community partnership programs” (Blair, 2010). Young people are using computers and social

media in ways that could have never been imagined just ten or twenty years ago. This “presents

new opportunities, needs, and challenges for libraries” (Tripp, 2011). Public libraries have

always “played an important role in helping young people gain access to computers and the

Internet” (Tripp, 2011). For those that do not have the means to have their own computer and

Internet access libraries provide “ a technological lifeline by offering reliable Internet access

needed to complete school assignments, apply for jobs, or secure government services” (Tripp,

2011). “The question to ask is not what do young adults find in a school or public library when

they enter it, but rather what happens to those young adults as a result of checking out a book,

attending a book discussion program, spending time as a student assistant, or learning how to

locate information on the Internet” (Jones, New directions for serving young adults means

building more than our collections, 2002)?

Teenagers have unique needs and “another factor found to be uniquely impacting

teenagers is a biological shift in sleep cycles. A change in the circadian rhythm of teenagers

causes a transition to later sleepiness and later wakefulness…This situation often creates a sleep

debt for teenagers during the week which they often try to recover from during the weekend.

While there is not much librarians can do about the academic schedule of the adolescents they

work with, knowing about the sleep and waking schedule of teenager can help then plan events

during prime waking hours when teens will be most alert. The public library is in a prime

position to offer activities during young adult waking hours by offering after school

programming during weekdays and trying to schedule weekend programs later in the afternoon”

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 9

(Blair, 2010). There is so much that has been recently found out about the brain development of

teens and “if librarians are to properly serve this population we need to try to meet them on their

ground, and to do that we must understand as much as possible about the ground they stand on”

(Blair, 2010).

Playing

Literacy can be achieved by other means than sitting with a book and learning to decipher

and comprehend it. Gaming is a new way that young adults can learn and that librarians can use

to teach literacy skills. Gee states that “simply because the playing child is not studiously

deciphering the words on a printed page of a book does not mean he is not acquiring valuable

skills” (Blair, 2010). At the beginning of the 21st century, “students more than ever need to learn

the skills to solve information problems and become information literate, in many schools they

are instead focused on drills to learn skills used primarily to pass a politically mandated test”

(Jones, New directions for serving young adults means building more than our collections,

2002). The public library needs to offer “services that include increased student learning and

achievement” (Jones, New directions for serving young adults means building more than our

collections, 2002). Many public libraries have gaming systems and are “offering evenings where

teenagers can come to the library and play together” (Blair, 2010). This is a great idea and “it

appeals to a commonly known interest of teenagers and displays a willingness on the part of

librarians to cater to different intelligences and facilitate learning in various semiotic domains”

(Blair, 2010).

Digital Youth Project

Youths use different terms to describe what it is they like to do. These are categorized as

the “3 modes of engagement-hanging out, messing around, geeking out,” and even though they

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 10

“may seem trivial- they are highly motivating and deeply meaningful to young people” (Tripp,

2011). Teens maintain “social relationships…through and mediated by media and

communication technologies, access to media for hanging out makes it possible for young people

to participate in important aspects of social life and development” (Tripp, 2011). When we allow

them time to “experiment and tinker with media as they pursue self-directed interests,” this can

provide “a stepping-stone to deeper engagement”, and help them to “actively seek out new ways

to learn and improve their skills” (Tripp, 2011). This learning cannot happen at school because

“the nature and quality of this access is routinely constrained by institutional policies and norms

that emphasize adult-driven assignments and task-oriented activities” (Tripp, 2011). The library

of the 21st century needs to be reinvented to become a place with relevant resources for teens.

YouMedia in Chicago has come up with a plan focused around the interests of teens. They have a

space for teens where “workshops address a range of topics, such as video production, graphic

design, gaming, digital music, fan fiction, and anime” (Tripp, 2011). Libraries need to

experiment with “gaming nights, anime clubs, digital story stations, social network pages, book

blogs, or podcasting shows” and show a “commitment to continual growth and innovation ‘to

provide the resources and services that users need and want’” (Tripp, 2011). As librarians, “we

must pay attention to “play” as a way to deliver services since stories exist in more than one

modality” (Ward-Crixell, 2007). In the 21st century, “games are the ideal model for combining

content in different ways and incorporating problem solving into the gaming experience” (Ward-

Crixell, 2007). Jenkins said “It’s about thinking what it means to play as an alternative system of

learning” (Ward-Crixell, 2007).

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 11

Social media

Social media is a “variety of web-based tools used to connect, collaborate, and create web

content and experiences” (Young Adult Library Services Association, 2011). There are many

positive uses “it provides an ideal environment for teens to share what they are learning or to

build something together online” (Young Adult Library Services Association, 2011). Social

media also “gives teens meaningful ways to use and improve reading and writing skills” (Young

Adult Library Services Association, 2011).

What does it all mean?

According to the National Collaboration for Youth, “youth development is a process

which prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a

coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them to become socially,

morally, emotionally, physically, and cognitively competent” (Waddle, 2001). The public library

can offer these challenges and other educational resources. Teens visit the library for a variety of

reasons, the “top three reasons teens report for using public libraries was for research, to

volunteer, and to use the Internet” (Loertscher & Woolls, 2002). Students know that the library is

a great source to help them in all of their endeavors:

79.6% public libraries offer online homework resources

89.6% of all public libraries offer access to online databases, with content

in virtually every school subject including history, literature and science”

“90% of students recognized that the school library helped boost their

confidence as proficient information seekers and users

91.8% of the students appreciated the school library’s help in sorting and

analyzing information and gaining media literacy

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 12

Students in programs with more school librarians and extended library

hours scored 8.4 to 21.8% higher on ACT English tests and 11.7 to 16.7%

higher on ACT reading tests compared to students in schools where

libraries had fewer resources

(YALSA)

The work of the teen or youth public librarian is important and provides necessary service to the

community. Adolescent literacy is important and can be a focus of the public library. Clubs,

games, and workshops can all add to the literacy of adolescents and prepare them for a

successful future. As Jones said, being a librarian “is not about buying the best books; it is about

developing better lives” (Jones, New directions for serving young adults means building more

than our collections, 2002)

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 13

References

(2015, April 19). Retrieved from Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/literacy

Blair, N. (2010). Raising the Bar in Public Libraries: Literacy, Adolescent Development and

Young Adult Services. (A. Murillo, & R. Hall, Eds.) U of I SLIS Journal. Retrieved from

http://ir.uiowa.edu/bsides/2

Braun, L. W. (2004, January/February). Making Meaning: An Interview with Elizabeth Birr

Moje. Public Libraries, pp. 30-32.

Fletcher, J. (2014). A review of "effective" reading literacy practices for young adolescent 11 to

13 year old students. Educational Review, 66(3), 293-310.

doi:10.1080/00131911.2013.772126

Gilton, D. L. (2008). Information Literacy As a Department Store. Young Adult Library Services,

39-42, 44.

Haynes, M. (2014). Fact Sheet: Adolescent Literacy. Washington, DC: Alliance For Excellent

Education.

Heller, R. (2015). The Scope of Adolescent Literacy Crisis. Retrieved from AdLit:

http://www.adlit.org/adlit_101/scope_of_the_adolescent_literacy_crisis/

Jones, P. (2002). New directions for serving young adults means building more than our

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Jones, P. (2007). CONNECTING YOUNG ADULTS AND LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST

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Loertscher, D. V., & Woolls, B. (2002). Teenage users of libraries: a brief overview of the

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ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 14

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Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/literacy-clearinghouse