Preschool Storytime in Auckland’s public libraries: A qualitative study of book selection practices

<p>Research problem: Anecdotal evidence suggested a lack of uniformity across Auckland Libraries, in that Preschool Storytime sessions were being delivered by a range of different people with varying levels of training and experience. The purpose of the research was to gain an understanding of their book selection practices and the nature of the books selected for reading aloud. Methodology: The researcher took a qualitative approach, using a purposive sampling technique to select 10 participants from nine different libraries across the Auckland region. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the required data. Results: Seven main factors were found to influence the book selection process: length; illustrations; subjects, concepts and themes; use of language; the potential for audience participation; the potential for emotional engagement and personal preference. Participants employed various strategies to assist them in finding suitable books. These included physical browsing, online browsing, searching the library catalogue and seeking recommendations. Toy and movable books and picture storybooks were popular with participants. Implications: The findings from this study may be of interest to librarians working with children in public libraries elsewhere in New Zealand. The results could potentially be used as a tool to guide and inform their storytime practices, and as a basis for training and development. A subsequent study involving content analysis could be undertaken at a later date, with a view to describing in detail the books shared with children during Preschool Storytime sessions.</p>

Preschool Storytime in Auckland’s public libraries: A qualitative study of book selection practices

<p>Research problem: Anecdotal evidence suggested a lack of uniformity across Auckland Libraries, in that Preschool Storytime sessions were being delivered by a range of different people with varying levels of training and experience. The purpose of the research was to gain an understanding of their book selection practices and the nature of the books selected for reading aloud. Methodology: The researcher took a qualitative approach, using a purposive sampling technique to select 10 participants from nine different libraries across the Auckland region. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the required data. Results: Seven main factors were found to influence the book selection process: length; illustrations; subjects, concepts and themes; use of language; the potential for audience participation; the potential for emotional engagement and personal preference. Participants employed various strategies to assist them in finding suitable books. These included physical browsing, online browsing, searching the library catalogue and seeking recommendations. Toy and movable books and picture storybooks were popular with participants. Implications: The findings from this study may be of interest to librarians working with children in public libraries elsewhere in New Zealand. The results could potentially be used as a tool to guide and inform their storytime practices, and as a basis for training and development. A subsequent study involving content analysis could be undertaken at a later date, with a view to describing in detail the books shared with children during Preschool Storytime sessions.</p>

Factors influencing book selection decisions by academic librarians in an Arabic Islamic context

<p>There are many factors to be taken into account when making selection decisions in an academic library including curriculum need, suitability of content, user interest, and academic input. Academic librarians in the Muslim Arabic country of the United Arab Emirates face the added challenge of making judgements about the suitability of the content in view of the community in which they work. In the absence of comprehensive collection development policies librarians are at times required to make decisions based on the sometimes conflicting demands of traditional Muslim values and their own beliefs about intellectual freedom. In this study nine academic librarians were asked to consider the suitability of twelve books and to offer criteria for their decision. A range of variables was also explored to identify possible relationships between the variables and selection decisions. The variables appearing to have an effect on decisions include the gender and nationality of the student population, and the nationality and religion of the librarian.</p>

Factors influencing book selection decisions by academic librarians in an Arabic Islamic context

<p>There are many factors to be taken into account when making selection decisions in an academic library including curriculum need, suitability of content, user interest, and academic input. Academic librarians in the Muslim Arabic country of the United Arab Emirates face the added challenge of making judgements about the suitability of the content in view of the community in which they work. In the absence of comprehensive collection development policies librarians are at times required to make decisions based on the sometimes conflicting demands of traditional Muslim values and their own beliefs about intellectual freedom. In this study nine academic librarians were asked to consider the suitability of twelve books and to offer criteria for their decision. A range of variables was also explored to identify possible relationships between the variables and selection decisions. The variables appearing to have an effect on decisions include the gender and nationality of the student population, and the nationality and religion of the librarian.</p>

Speech-Language Pathologist's Race, But Not Caseload Composition, Is Related to Self-Report of Selection of Diverse Books

Purpose We provide a preliminary report on speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) practices with regard to the selection of representative materials for clinical service delivery. Method We conducted a pilot survey of the practices of SLPs serving children under age 9 years, asking them about the books used, their own race, and the racial composition of their caseload. The survey was begun by 181 SLPs. Complete responses from 22 Black SLPs and 79 White SLPs were coded for the race of the protagonist of the named books and the rationale given for book selection. Results Black SLPs were more likely than White SLPs to report selecting books with people and selecting books with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color protagonists. For neither group did the book selection align with their own reported intents to select diverse books. SLP race and the racial composition of caseloads were tightly aligned. Thus, we lacked the power to determine if caseload composition uniquely predicted diverse books selection or motivations provided. Conclusions There is a need to better understand selection of materials by SLPs as it relates to culturally competent practice. Additional methods (focus groups and purposive sampling) would be required to fully understand the social pressures and motivations influencing SLP decisions.

The Exclusive White World of Preservice Teachers’ Book Selection for the Classroom: Influences and Implications for Practice

This paper reports on a study of the children’s book preferences of 82 Preservice teachers (PSTs) at one Western Australian University. The study found PSTs preferred older books published during their own childhood or earlier. Further, representation of people of colour was limited to only 8 of 177 titles listed by PSTs. Key influences on their preferences were their personal favourite books and those used by mentor teachers during practicum experience. The outcomes of this study have implications for curriculum development and implementation of Initial Teacher Education courses, and in turn, for equitable outcomes of the future students of PSTs.

Home Scholarly Culture, Book Selection Reason, and Academic Performance: Pathways to Book Reading Interest among Secondary School Students

Although studies have explored the predictors of book reading interest among children, little is known about the underlying mechanism that helps children become interested in reading books. This study attempt to demonstrate: (1) how book-reading interest is driven by reasons for choosing books (recommendation or personal preference), (2) how students with high and low academic achievements are motivated by different thinking pathways, and (3) how home scholarly culture improves book-reading interest through such pathways. Using Bayesian analysis on a dataset of survey responses from 4966 Vietnamese secondary students (11–15 years old, sixth to ninth grade), we found: (i) Reading interest is positively associated with a book recommendation and parental book reading activities (parents read books to children); (ii) High-achieving students are more interested in reading books if they can choose those books according to personal preferences; (iii) Parental book reading activities can promote book reading interest through recommendations and also by understanding children’s personal preferences. We advocate a more personalized approach in educational policymaking, curriculum design, and home scholarly culture based on students’ abilities and perceptions.

Censorship in High School Libraries in Israel: An Analysis of School Sectorial Affiliation Effect

Although school libraries have existed in Israel for several decades, some of them dating back to the 50's, the issue of censorship has not been studied. The objective of this full-blown study was to empirically assess the current state of censorship in a large sample of high school libraries in Israel, following an exploratory study. The sample comprised 98 high schools, from both the 'religious' and `nonreligious' sectors. The main research tool was a two-parts questionnaire, designed to be filled out during the researcher's visit to the library. Most librarians reported that some form of control, restriction or supervision was, always or very often, applied to books being added to the collection, usually by the head librarian, and/or the school principal. None of the libraries had any kind of written document, or even an unwritten statement specifying instructions or policy regarding book selection and acquisition. The librarians never mentioned any external pressure to censor the existing collection or books to be acquired, and clearly the censorship was strictly internal, initiated by the librarians themselves and other members of the school staff. In both sectors there was wide agreement on banning titles which included violence, hard pornography, racism and drugs, but there were considerable differences regarding 'soft' pornography, sexual permissiveness and books degrading the Jewish religion or its values, principles or commands. A comparison of four lists of specific titles against the catalogs showed that the non-religious sector libraries owned three times the percentage from the first list (explicit violence and sex), but only less than half the percentage from the fourth list ('Judaism'), compared to the religious sector. Interestingly, the religious group had lower percentages of both the `right-wing' and `left-wing' lists, due to its smaller collections, but had relatively more from the `right-wing' list than the `left-wing' one, while in the libraries of the non-religious sector the situation was reversed.

Home scholarly culture, book selection reason, and academic performance: Pathways to book reading interest among secondary school students

Book reading has long been one of the fundamental components contributing to individuals’ cognitive development and societies’ sustainable development. Although many studies have been conducted to explore the predictors of book reading interest among children, little is known about the underlying mechanism that helps children become interested in reading books. Thus, this study attempt to demonstrate: 1) how secondary school students’ book-reading interest is driven by home scholarly culture (parental book reading) and preferred book selection reason (by recommendation or personal preference), and 2) how students with distinct academic achievements are differently influenced. Three major findings were obtained performing Bayesian analysis on a dataset of 4,966 Vietnamese secondary students: (i) Reading interest is positively associated with a book recommendation and parental book reading activity; (ii) High-achieving students are most likely to be more interested in reading a book if they can choose preferred books according to personal preference; (iii) Parental book reading activity can promote book reading interest with both recommendation and understanding children’s personal preferences. From these results, we advocate for a more personalized educational approach in policymaking, curriculum design, and home intellectual culture based on students’ ability and perception.