Introduction to Library Studies

Introduction to Library Studies

EDITED BY Eddy Onwuazo (Editor –in – chief) E. S. Anaehobi Cliff Nwogwugwu E. G. Okani Copyright ©

Director, Division of General Studies, Nwafor Orizu College of Education and the Authors 2003

ISBN: 978-35073-2-X Published by, NEPAJ Publishers No. 41 Udeke Street Awka.

CHAPTER

10

READING AND LITERACY: THE ROLE OF LIBRARY. BY E.S. ANAEHOBI

*Stamping out illiteracy is a global imperative not just to help individuals

fulfill their potential but because literacy can be used as a powerful tool for change in the worldwide fight against poverty and injustice*. (Unesco, 2003).

INTRODUCTION:

Oxford Advanced learner’s dictionary defined literacy as “the ability to

read and write”. To read is “to look at and understand the meaning of

written or printed words or symbols”, and reading is the action of a person who reads. We shall rely on these simple definitions to discuss the role of the library in reading and literacy efforts in any society. The

above

quotation

from

UNESCO

(2003)

highlights

the

importance of literacy to the individual and the society. Understanding issues associated with reading and literacy are vital to us at our level of

academic pursuits and more so as those training to be professional educators.

We shall briefly consider the following issues.

-

Conditions of reading and literacy in our society.

-

Tackling reading and literacy problems in the society.

-

Poor reading habits in our society.

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-

Role of libraries/librarians in reading and literacy development.

1.

Conditions of Reading and Literacy in our Society:

In every society the following groups can be identified:

a) Those that are illiterates who cannot read and write; b) Those that are literates who can read and write;

c) Those that are functional illiterates – “who have either lost or never properly acquired adequate reading and writing skills necessary to function in present day society.”

The above classes are found in every society whether in developed

or developing countries. Their proportion in various societies determines the level of literacy of such places. While Nigeria has 30% adult illiterates,

United States of America and Europe have less than 10% adult illiterates. (Unesco, 2002).

Why do we have such high level of adult illiterates? Reasons

identified have to do with the society, home and school (Okpala, 1988). In our society the following conditions prevailed: -

Oral tradition of our society which makes reading and writing a

-

Unconducive climatic environment which makes home uncomfortable for reading indoors whereas reading is an individual

-

secondary and new manner of communication. affair often done in doors.

Problem of reading in second language which impedes reading

skills.

Lack of development of book industry which makes culturally and socially adequate reading materials to be scarce.

Lack of public libraries which would have provided reading materials 142

to rural dwellers and less economically endowed person. -

Lack of children literature by authors to produce suitable reading

materials for children.

Influence of radio, television, cassettes and video which militate against reading as recreation.

Home-based Problems include the following: -

Most students come from houses devoid of books thus no prior

-

Parents are unable to afford high cost of books.

-

encounter with books or reading experience.

Home conditions like lack of physical facilities, reading tables, chairs, good light etc make people not to read.

School Conditions include: -

Lack of adequate facilities in schools like chairs, tables

-

Teaching methods, which do not encourage reading and use of

-

2.

Lack of good teachers who motivate students to read library books

Lack of good school libraries Poor Reading Habits in our Society

Where poor conditions exist, many unsatisfactory results manifest. Hence the above poor conditions existing in our society support easily observable

poor reading and reading habits among our people. Students must take cognizance of poor reading habits at this stage in order to correct them. 143

Poor reading habits manifest in poor reading efficiency of most

people. Efficiency in reading manner implies “adapting the manner of reading to the nature of the materials and to the purpose of reading”. A

good reader is able to cover materials in ones major area of interest and

yet have time to read other varieties of materials for knowledge. Unfortunately many students indulge in utilitarian reading. They read

prescribed textbooks to pass prescribed examinations, or read only to obtain immediate information requirements.

Many people read laboriously, wasting much time to read a piece of

material. Some people have detectable reading faults, which include:

 Moving their heads when reading: Poor readers move their heads from side to side while reading. This slows down reading speed.

 Point at words: This is one of the worst reading habits, which retard reading rate. Such readers point to words with their fingers or other objects as they read.

 Moving of lips and or vocalizing what one reads - the poor fellow moves vocal apparatus like the tongue, throat or vocal chords during reading.

 Sub-vocalization where the reader does not move any of the vocal apparatus but pronounces the words to himself in his mind.  Back skipping and re-reading words or lines: These practices slow down reading speed and hinder, comprehension. Re-reading or regression may be desirable, when made to reinforce the message conveyed through the writing but it should not be frequent. 144

 Having small recognition span: Recognition span refers to the number of words that a reader can recognize while the eyes are

fixed at one point. Poor readers recognize one or two words at a glance while good readers recognize several words per fixation. A small recognition span affects both reading rate and comprehension.

 Rhythmic eye-movement: This refers to how their eyes move across a line of print. A poor reader’s eyes move across a line of

print in a haphazard rather rhythmic manner. Such a reader takes in

only a single word at a time and regressing often whereas the eyes should move from the middle of one phrase to the middle of the text.

 Failure to adapt reading procedure: Poor readers approach every text in the same manner instead of varying the style to suit the linguistic level of text and the purpose of reading it. A good reader decides which parts of the text can be skimmed quickly and which will require closer attention.

The reading faults are highlighted to help you to examine your

reading style and to make corrections where necessary. 3.

Tackling Reading and Literacy Problems in the Society

We can state that from observation many readers develop several

bad reading faults which adversely affect their reading. These habits

persist in their reading life because there has been little or no effort to correct them.

Further, many people have never had opportunity through any

special guidance to develop appropriate reading skills. The overall effect is

that to many, reading is drudgery instead of pleasure and thirst for voluntary reading a matter of few. To many once examinations are over, 145

they stop reading and soon relapse into functional illiterates.

An earnest method to deal with problem of literacy in any society is

to start with the juveniles at home and primary school level. Providing a

good primary education to every child is the key to preventing today’s child becoming tomorrow’s new generation of illiterate adults. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”, a biblical injunction is apt.

Therefore, home/parents, School/teachers, libraries/librarians have

roles to play to promote reading and literacy in the society.

At home parents read to the preschoolers from books. They provide newspapers which will be useful in their later formal instruction.

A nursery/primary school, children are aided by specific instruction in

reading skills.

At secondary school level, students should be independent readers.

According to Dallmann (1974, p. 30):

They must be taught to acquire silent reading skills which include reading with understanding and speed; loud reading

skills which involve moving eyes several words ahead of vocalization; observing punctuations and articulating words properly; extensive reading skills which include covering greatest possible amount of reading materials within the shortest possible time.

At higher institutions students have to read and interpret complex

materials skills for good reading efficiency and reading comprehension must be developed further.

Those reading skills acquired through formal education would carry

the individual through life.

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What other actions can be taken to inculcate reading habits? Among

school children? Here we want to consider joint actions of the teachers and the school librarians.

At the primary school, the target of all teachers should be to “catch

them young”. Most of the pupil’s readings are fictions and teachers are to lay foundation of habits which would be developed more as the pupils

advance in their schooling. A habit of using the library can be developed if teachers give reading assignments, which involve using library books;

teaching to enable them refer the students to find out more from library books.

To develop out-of-school reading, teachers should expose their

pupils to wide varieties of materials in their subjects and related areas. Students should generally be encouraged to read beyond the syllabus.

Teachers should ensure that they influence the quality of what their

children read. This they can do in co-operation with the school librarian by recommending popular books in their various areas suitable for the school library.

These are other sections, which libraries/librarians are in the position

to take in the promotion of reading. 4.

Roles of Libraries/Librarians in Reading and Literacy

Development

As those who earn their living and derive joy from helping those who

want to read, librarians have special interest in the promotion of reading.

In general, librarians are responsible for providing and making

available books the people read.

The primary school libraries help to create in a child the 147

impression of the library as a stimulating place which satisfies and arouses desire for knowledge.

School librarians directly influence reading by children through

reading guidance. The school librarian carries out various activities which

encourage children to read freely and widely. Reading guidance aims at matching readers with books that suit their interest thereby stimulating and

encouraging them to read more. The librarian has to nurture the children

so that each child gets good satisfaction whenever he attempts to read by offering best selected reading materials at their levels to arouse their

interests. Also, the school librarian has to detect children who have interest in reading but are slow readers. To improve such readers, he has to identify individual interest and follow up with supplying simplest materials written on areas of interest.

Also, the school librarian has to detect children who have interest in

reading but are slow readers. To improve such readers, he has to identify individual interest and follow up with supplying simplest materials written on areas of interest.

The school librarian has to identify individual reading faults and

helps to correct them to improve reading rate.

At secondary school level, the students are supposed to be

independent readers. They need general books on stories, informational books, books on sports, science, hobbies, etc. The librarian has to find out

these interested and try to match the reader and appropriate books.

Adequate selections and organization of materials are very crucial in order to achieve these.

Other activities of the school librarian associated with reading

guidance are showing picture books, story telling, reading poetry aloud,

giving book talks, presenting new books to a class, displaying new books 148

jackets, organizing book exhibition. Each of these aims at arousing the interest of the children to find out more about the books.

To improve the overall reading interest of the children, the librarian

must device programmes that make reading compulsory. This could be in

form of reading ands reporting on any book of interest within specified period.

At higher education level, academic libraries provide user education

information on (i)

Library orientation whose purpose is to teach the use of the individual library and its services.

It is usually in form of a guided tour of the library and provision of (ii)

guides on services available and about the library stock.

subject oriented approach of bibliographic instruction which teaches

information gathering method and information sources. This course, GS 110 is a typical bibliographic instruction programme.

The course is very important because ability to use a library is an

essential part of education for life process. The campaign aims at improving people’s reading habits so as to correct poor reading habits and impart better reading skills. Readership promotion campaigns also help to

motivate people to read for pleasure other than for utilitarian purposes. Some readership promotion programme include: 1)

Use of television to show films depicting some bad reading habits and how to correct them.

149

2)

Serializing books or their adaptations in radio and television to

influence people to read such books as the serial runs. Example when Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was serialized by Nigerian Television Authority, many people who had not read the book were motivated to read it.

3)

Mobile library units of public libraries are used to serve people in the

hinterlands. When the books are carefully selected, to meet the interest of the communities served, the result could be far reaching.

We shall not conclude this chapter without exposing a canker in our

society. Casual observation of many of our adolescent readers shows that

they patronize more of the so called “humanist interest, soft sell, nonserious” publications like Prime People, Ikebe Super etc. These publications rarely contain deep thoughts and philosophies that profit much

compared with historical novels, fictions, and other good books which enter different worlds and people through printed papers.

Finally, librarians committed to promoting reading should, within

available fund, ensure that books published locally are stocked in their

libraries. This meets people’s interests and also helps to encourage

Nigerian publishers to invest more in publishing materials from local authors.

REFERENCES

Dallmann, Marthal et al (1974) The Teaching of Reading 4th ed; New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston.

Okpala M.C. (1988) “Reading habits among Nigerian School Pupils” Nigerian Journal of Library and Information Science Digest Vol. 1 1. Unesco (2003) The New Courier, April, No. 2 p. 41. 150